Lawrence Todd White

Beloit College · Department of Psychology

Many courts believe "reasonable doubt" is self-defining and, therefore, do not explain the concept to their juries. The empirical evidence, however, suggests otherwise. Controlled studies demonstrate that mock jurors do not distinguish between reasonable doubt, clear and convincing evidence, or even preponderance of evidence standards when reaching...

Many researchers have conceptualized fatalism as synonymous with external locus of control (LOC) and used LOC scales to measure fatalism. These practices are based on a logical error: fatalism and external LOC cannot be equivalent constructs because an attribution to fate is only one kind of external attribution. In Study 1, we developed a new, rel...

The behavioral sciences play a significant role in shaping the law. Yet, despite their importance, many judges and lawyers harbor serious misconceptions about behavioral research. This Article uses a "case study"-a motion hearing in a criminal case-to educate judges and lawyers in several important behavioral-research concepts. At the motion hearin...

Despite the time-honored judicial principle that "we try cases, rather than persons," courts routinely allow prosecutors to use defendants' prior, unrelated bad acts at trial. Courts acknowledge that jurors could improperly use this other-acts evidence as proof of the defendant's bad character. However, courts theorize that if the other acts are al...

The flexibility model of bisexuality views bisexuality as the successful integration of homosexual and heterosexual identities into a dual sexual orientation. In addition, the model characterizes bisexual individuals as cognitively and interpersonally flexible. In this study, the authors tested the “bisexuals are more flexible” hypothesis. Particip...

The Constitution protects us from criminal conviction unless the state can prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. However, many of our nation’s trial courts will conclude their burden of proof instructions by telling jurors not to evaluate the evidence for doubt, but instead “to search for the truth” of what they think really happened. In our previ...

Cross-cultural psychology and its kissing cousin cultural psychology are genuinely exciting subfields within the discipline of psychology, even when students learn about them by reading a textbook and sitting in a classroom. Imagine how much more exciting it would be if students could learn about cross-cultural psychology while living in a foreign...

In his small volume, Brekhus aims to summarize and discuss sociological studies that investigate the ways in which one’s social standpoint influences one’s attention, perception, categorizations, meaning-making, memory, and sense of self. Each chapter begins with a brief overview of the topic to be addressed in the chapter. Brekhus then presents a...

Psychology students who conduct research as part of a study abroad program are likely to benefit in numerous ways, yet no published reports are available to help instructors who supervise such students. This brief report offers specific recommendations about how to assist students prior to departure, provide necessary resources while abroad, and en...

The authors analyzed the Miranda portion of electronically recorded police interrogations in serious felony cases. The objectives were to determine what percentage of suspects waived their rights, whether the suspects understood their rights before waiving them, and whether the police employed any tactics to induce the suspects to waive their right...

University students (N = 301) in Estonia, Morocco, and the United States read scenarios about various scheduled appointments and indicated the time at which a person arriving would be inappropriately early or inappropriately late. Participants also completed measures of time orientation, collectivism, and personality. Definitions of “on time” varie...

Modern interrogation techniques are designed to extract confessions from guilty suspects, but they sometimes induce false confessions from innocent suspects. Often, the only meaningful protection a defendant has against a false confession is to challenge its reliability at a jury trial. In so doing, defendants may attempt to offer expert testimony...

Many lessons learned abroad also apply at home. In that spirit, we report the lessons we learned during our recent appointments as Fulbright lecturers in the Republic of Estonia. We describe our experiences as teachers of psychology in Estonia and discuss some of the benefits teachers reap when they become more aware of themselves and their audienc...

When calling balls and strikes, baseball umpires encounter an ambiguous situation that requires an immediate decision. Contextual cues (e.g., a batter's reputation) may influence an umpire's decision making process. The present study examined the relationship between actual pitch-calling decisions of 35 professional baseball umpires and four status...

There are several reasons to expect that the issue of capital punishment will continue to demand the attention of the public and the media. To provide necessary background for the articles that follow, we present a brief history of the death penalty in the United States and describe the American system of capital jurisprudence. We also present a de...

Examined witnesses' memories for an event experienced 2 yrs earlier. Ss in 4 age groups (6-, 8-, and 10-yr-olds and adults; N = 79) answered repeated questions about an ambiguous incident that occurred as part of an earlier study (D. A. Poole and L. T. White; see record 1992-08648-001). Surprisingly, the effects of question repetition were simila...

As I have argued elsewhere, many academics do not get as much intellectual exercise as they think they do. One can exercise his or her intellect by closely analyzing a feature film within a disciplinary framework. The value of this approach is demonstrated by an analysis of 12 Angry Men--a 1957 film about the deliberations of a jury in a murder tri...

Examined witnesses' answers to repeated questions about a novel event, both within and across interviews. Ss in 4 age groups (4-, 6-, and 8-yr-olds and adults; N = 133) individually witnessed an ambiguous incident. Some Ss were interviewed immediately and 1 wk later; others were interviewed only once, 1 wk later. Children were as accurate as adult...

For many academics, intellectual exercise is a valued yet neglected activity. Intellect can be exercised many ways including the close study of a feature film within a disciplinary framework. The value of this approach is demonstrated by an analysis of Breaker Morant, a film that depicts the court-martial of three Australian officers during the Sou...

Several defense strategies are available to the capital defendant who is arguing for life in the penalty phase, including a mental illness (MI) defense. An MI defense presents psychiatric testimony to the effect that the defendant was mentally disturbed at the time of the offense and, therefore, should not be held completely responsible. The few st...

Examined 2 factors thought to influence jurors' penalty decisions in capital trials—the nature of the crime committed and the defense's portrayal of the convicted offender's character—using 232 college students. Mock jurors who were not unalterably opposed to the death penalty, were exposed to 1 of 12 simulated penalty trials. Each trial was compri...

More than 200 evaluations of energy conservation programs conducted by California's four major utilities between 1977-1980 were reviewed and critiqued. In general, the evaluations were conducted in the marketing research tradition, were formative (rather than summative), and were dominated by nonexperimental surveys. Major threats to validity inclu...

Four major California utility companies have active energy conservation programs mandated by the State's Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). These companies evaluate their programs and send reports of the evaluations to the CPUC. A review of 213 of these reports revealed a marketing research approach toward promoting conservation. Advertising and i...

ABSTRACT: An important factor concerning the use of the polygraph in employment settings has been overlooked: How does the polygraph experience affect a new employee's work-related attitudes? In two experiments, subjects were exposed to different hiring scenarios-one included a polygraph examination, the other did not—and then responded to a questi...

Four approaches to encouraging energy conservation are reviewed: structural, interpersonal influence, social learning and diffusion, and cognitive. Strengths and weaknesses of each approach are noted, and the efficacy of multi-approach change efforts are discussed. Particular emphasis is placed on the distinction between device-oriented and lifesty...

review studies that have examined the eyewitness performance of children and adults across repeated questions [during interviews] / consider the impact of across-session repetition, or multiple interviews / review . . . within-session repetition / [describe] the empirical or theoretical bases for predicting that repetition will enhance or degrade t...