If you were directed here from a study, you may click the following links to return to: Psychological Research on the Net or Social Psychology Network's Online Social Psychological Studies

Psychology and Law Laboratory for Web-based Studies

In joint collaboration between researchers at Florida International University, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, this page collects links to ongoing and past Web-based research projects, for both research and teaching purposes.

ONGOING RESEARCH

The following links are to experiments or studies that are currently collecting data.  Some of the links below may offer payment for complete participation in the experiment or study.  To FIU undergrads: The studies below are NOT registered for psychology course credit.

(Posted 2/10/07): Jurors' Decisions in Assault Cases. By Valerie Perez and Kevin O'Neil (Florida International University).  This study involves a case in which the defendant is accused of assault.

(Posted 10/9/03).  Jury Decision Making Study.  By Dr. Norbert Kerr (Michigan State Univ.) and Dr. Irvin Horowitz (Oregon State Univ.)  This study investigates juror decision making in a murder case, asking participants to read a trial transcript and provide a verdict.

PAST RESEARCH

NOTE: Data collection for these projects has been completed.  Further participants are not needed.  These links are provided as a convenient collection and demonstration of past research.  Payment is not currently offered for any study.

Previous research into jury decision making in death penalty cases:

• Mental Illness and Texas Jury Instructions.  Study addressing whether mental illness is properly considered as a mitigating factor and whether jurors comprehend and apply different versions of Texas's sentencing scheme. Based on Robison v. Johnson case.
• Aggravating Factors, Harmless Error Doctrine, and Concerns about Parole. Study investigating whether consideration of improper aggravating factors in federal sentencing scheme was "harmless error" and whether jurors' beliefs about what would happen in the event of a hung jury influenced verdicts.  Based on Jones v. United States case.
• Harmless Error and Jury Instructions. A follow-up study to the above study, with additional variables testing whether jurors follow the instructions given to them.
• Aggravating and Mitigating Factors, Instructions and Attorney Arguments. A study investigating many issues, including effects of purported aggravating and mitigating factors, comprehension of jury instructions, and style of attorney arguments on sentencing verdicts.
• Parole, Dangerousness, and Instruction Comprehension.  Study investigating effects of jurors' beliefs about parole as they interact with the defendant's future dangerousness and comprehension of jury instructions.  Based on Ramdass v. Angelone and Weeks v. Angelone.
• Study on Mitigating Factors in Death Penalty Cases.  A study focusing on jurors' treatment of evidence of mental illness and child abuse, and whether there needs to be an explicit link or "nexus" between evidence and the crime.  Based on Arizona v. Hopkins.
• Death penalty juries and persuasion.  A new study that follows a death penalty case from beginning to end, examining persuasive evidence and arguments in the case.
• Death penalty and mental retardation.  This study asks jurors to decide on a defendant's mental retardation in addition to the death penalty verdict, addressing an issue involved in Atkins v. Virginia.

Research into jury decision making in civil cases:

• Study on Jury Damages in Civil Cases.  A study that investigates factors that influence the amount of compensatory and punitive damages awarded by civil juries.
• Juries and Product Liability Cases. A study investigating jury decision making in product liability tort cases.
• Juries and Product Liability Cases II. Another study investigating jury decision making in product liability tort cases.

• Survey of Attitudes toward the Civil Jury System.  A survey where you will answer items about your attitudes toward the civil jury system (including lawyers, juries, etc.) and respond to a few hypothetical scenarios.

Research into other types of cases:

• Cases Involving Repressed Memories and Abuse.  A study investigating jurors' evaluation of claims of repressed and recovered memories in cases involving child sexual abuse.  This may be a sensitive topic for some.
• Cases Involving a Charge of Criminal Stalking. A study investigating stalking verdicts in different combinations of defendant and target gender.
• Cases Involving Battered Spouses.

LINKS TO OTHER ONLINE EXPERIMENTS

• Psychological Research on the Net
• The Cambridge-Southampton Social Psychology Web-lab
• Social Psychology Network's Online Social Psychological Studies
• The Web Experimental Psychology Lab
• The "Web Experiment List" at the University of Zurich
• PsychExperiments
• A collection of social psychology studies at the University of Southern California
• Yahoo Listing of experiments
• If you are interested in being contacted by email when Web-based studies become available, you may sign up at: Studyresponse.com
• HERE is a guide to conducting Web-based psychological research that I created.  This will be updated within the month with a few new features.

PROGRAM LINKS

The following links will take you to the homepages of the law and psychology programs offered by these universities:

• University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• Florida International University
• John Jay College of Criminal Justice

You may also visit the homepage of the American Psychology-Law Society for more information about our field.

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR PROBLEMS, you may contact Kevin O'Neil (FIU) by Email at oneil_k@bellsouth.net, Steven Penrod (John Jay) at spenrod@jjay.cuny.edu, or Rich Wiener (UNL) at rwiener2@unl.edu .