Social Psychology Commons^™

Plea Decision-Making: The Influence Of Attorney Expertise, Trustworthiness, And Recommendation, Kelsey S. Henderson, Reveka Shteynberg

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Attorney recommendations influence defendant plea decisions; and the degree of influence likely rests on the perceived trustworthiness and level of expertise of the attorney (factors of source credibility). We explored attorney source credibility factors and how these characteristics influence defendants’ plea decision-making. MTurk participants read a hypothetical plea scenario and were asked to imagine themselves as the defendant in a DWI/DUI case making a plea decision; in the scenario, we manipulated the defense attorney’s level of trustworthiness, expertise, and plea recommendation. There was a significant interaction between attorney recommendation and trustworthiness on defendants’ plea decisions; participants who were advised to …

Racial Discrimination At The Crosswalk, Tara Goddard, Kimberly Barsamian Kahn, Arlie Adkins

TREC Project Briefs

A look at pedestrian fatality rates in the United States reveals that minorities are disproportionately represented. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2013 that in the first decade of this century, the fatality rates for black and Hispanic men were twice as high as they were for white men. Multi-disciplinary research has shown that racially biased behaviors are evident in many parts of society. Minorities experience differential outcomes in education, employment, health care, and criminal sentencing. Could racially biased treatment exist in transportation as well?

Implicit racial biases are subtle beliefs that individuals may hold beneath the …

Structuring Skinner: Argument, Structure, And Metaphor In Verbal Behavior, Patrick Hamilton

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

Skinner’s purpose in Verbal Behavior is to make the study of behavior a science and thus to eliminate argument, rhetoric, and metaphor. But clearly Skinner has not completely eliminated argument, rhetoric, and metaphor from his study. This discussion of Skinner’s work demonstrates that these rhetorical and persuasive ways are tied into his "scientific" investigation of language and verbal behavior, and in many ways, it is these very methods that allow Skinner to create and describe his conception of verbal behavior, even as he claims to be eliminating and avoiding the use of these techniques. This analysis of Skinner's Verbal Behavior …

The Vocational Interests Of Prisoners: A Preliminary Validation Study Of The Lustig Color Vector Test, Hanoch Livneh, Robert E. Pullo, Paul Lustig

Counselor Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this study was to provide empirical evidence for the validity of the Lustig Color Vector Test (LCVT) as a vocational interest measure. The LCVT, a nonverbal instrument, is a schematic attempt to represent the Vector Theory of Behavior which describes human behavior in terms of motion and the laws of physics. A sample of 92 participants was chosen to represent the literate male population of incarcerated offenders in the Wisconsin state prison system.-Participants were administered the LCVT as well as Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) and a demographic questionnaire. The results offered tentative support to the notion …