Patricia A. Ferreira

Iowa State University | ISU · Department of Psychology

Objective: Over the past 4 decades, discrepant research findings have emerged in the juror–confession literature, prompting the need for a systematic review and meta-analysis that assesses the effect of confession evidence (coerced or noncoerced) on conviction rates and the efficacy of trial safeguards. Hypotheses: We did not predict any directiona...

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Forensic Psychology: Research and Practice, available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/24732850.2023.2181121. This study experimentally tested jurors’ claims that their expert credibility perceptions are independently influenced by expert training and ex...

This study experimentally tested jurors’ claims that their expert credibility perceptions are independently influenced by expert training and experience, with the latter exerting greater influence. To our knowledge, only the combined impact of these variables had been previously examined. Mock jurors (N = 553) read a trial summary containing testim...

In this manuscript we present the results of a preregistered meta-analytic synthesis of the literature on the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and non-clinical personality traits. Our findings, based on data from 228 correlations, 32 unique samples and 48,125 individuals indicates that adverse childhood experiences are most strong...

Objectives Although the literature suggests wrongful guilty pleas exist, less attention has been devoted to the false guilty pleas to probation sentences. We examined the plea decision-making process when participants faced probation. Methods We conducted a 2 (guilt status: innocent or guilty) × 2 (probation length: 1 year or 5 years) × 2 (probati...

In child sexual abuse cases, jurors heavily weigh the credibility of the complainant when rendering their verdict. One concern is that jurors oftentimes base their subjective yet highly consequential credibility judgments on factors that provide no true indication as to whether the incident in question actually occurred. This paper provides a broad...

Across a significant body of research, psychopathy has often been conceptualized as a biologically based malady. In this research, genetic and neurobiological differences have been conceptualized to underlie psychopathy, while affected individuals' life experiences only influence expressed psychopathic features and their severity. Psychopathy resea...