Conference Program and Schedule

214CD Memorial Union

Coffee and pastries will be served. 

214CD Memorial Union 

 

Memorial Union

214CD Memorial Union 

Memorial Union Restaurants

214AB Memorial Union

 

214CD Memorial Union

2:45-3 p.m. - Blood and Bigotry: Physical and Moral Disgust Responses

Madison Adrian and Andre Kehn (University of North Dakota)

One may encounter disgusting things in daily life, such as moldy food or cruel acts toward others. However, jurors serving on a criminal trial may be uniquely exposed to disgusting stimuli related to the crime being tried. It is theorized that different types of disgust exist, namely physical disgust, an aversion to disgusting stimuli, and moral disgust, a response to violations of moral standards. Moral disgust is thought to be a unique combination of anger and disgust. In the present study, a pool of photographs was compiled to target these two disgust responses. Participants were asked to provide descriptions and emotional reactivity ratings for each photograph within the pool. The findings indicate support for a dual-classification model of disgust, where both types of photographs generated disgust responses, yet only the morally disgusting photographs were associated with increased anger responses. Implications for the legal system and future directions are discussed.

214CD Memorial Union

214CD Memorial Union

Dr. Daniel Murrie Keynote Address: How reliable and objective are forensic experts?

Can forensic experts reliably reach the same conclusions about the same case? Can they remain objective when retained by one side in adversarial legal proceedings? Or does the outcome of an evaluation depend on which expert was assigned the case?  Are experts in adversarial court proceedings biased by the side that retained them?  

Dr. Murrie will consider whether the well-documented problems in the forensic sciences extend to the fields of forensic psychology and psychiatry.  In particular, he will review the emerging research on expert differences and expert biases--particularly among forensic psychologists and psychiatrists--in  “real world” forensic evaluations. Finally, we will consider some of the basic cognitive psychology that explains some of these problems, and may point to potential solutions.