The Latest
And from Guru Bob down at the temple:
Before you criticise someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when they hear you, you’re a mile away and you’ve got their shoes!
Recent Papers
Brewer, N., & Young, R. L. (coming soon). The vulnerability of autistic adults to criminal exploitation: Mismatches between legal defense arguments and empirical data. In M K. Miller, D. DeMatteo, & B. H. Bornstein (Eds.), Advances in Psychology and Law. Springer.
Michael, Z., & Brewer, N. (2024, online ahead of print). Detecting criminal intent in social interactions: The influence of autism and Theory of Mind. Law and Human Behavior.
Semmler, C., & Brewer, N. (2023). The assessment of eyewitness memory for people and events. In D. Lorandos (Ed.), The Litigator’s Handbook of Forensic Medicine, Psychiatry and Psychology (Vol.2, pp.1-89). Thomson West.
Brewer, N., Georgopoulos, M. A., Young, R. L., & Lucas, C. A. (2023). Autistic adults’ perspectives on appropriate empathic responses to others’ emotions. Autism Research, 16, 1573-1585.
Lim, A., Brewer, N., Aistrope, D., & Young, R. L. (2023). Response format changes the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test performance of autistic and non-autistic adults. Autism, 27, 2560-2565.
Lim, A., Brewer, N., & Young, R. L. (2023). Revisiting the relationship between cybercrime, autistic traits, and autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 53, 1319-1330.
Brewer, N., Lucas, C. A., Lim, A., & Young, R. L. (2023). Detecting dodgy behavior: The role of autism, autistic traits, and theory of mind. Autism, 27, 1026-1035.
Fixing Police Lineups
2020 – How to improve police photo arrays and lineups.
The paper was commissioned by Division 41 of the American Psychological Association; the 6 authors were invited; and (as well as the normal journal reviewing processes) the various iterations of the manuscript were reviewed in sessions at major international conferences:
Wells, G. L., Kovera, M. B., Douglass, A. B., Brewer, N., Meissner, C., & Wixted, J. (2020). Policy and procedure recommendations for the collection and preservation of eyewitness identification evidence. Law and Human Behavior, 44, 3-36. [see background to the paper here]
BUT, even when done well, they are far from perfect … & our American Psychologist paper from January 2020 (see below) outlines a radical new way of conducting identification tests !
2020 – American psychologist paper on what’s wrong with police lineups and how to fix the problem.
Brewer, N., Weber, N., & Guerin, N. (2020). Police line-ups of the future? American Psychologist, 75, 76-91.
Current Research
As has been the case for the last 20 years or so, his current research activities are divided between two main areas, both concerned with applications of experimental psychology to problems in the criminal justice system. One focus is in the area of eyewitness memory, eyewitness identification testing and the significance of eyewitness metacognitions (e.g., confidence) in interpreting eyewitness memories. The other focus relates to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), currently investigating those cognitive and social characteristics of ASD that may contribute to problematic interactions with the criminal justice system.
Follow his Psychology Today commentary on Weighing the Evidence: Memory and the mind in the criminal justice system.
A Dozen Oldies … that ain’t the normal stuff!
Brewer, N., & Doyle, J. (2021). Changing the face of police lineups: Delivering more information from witnesses. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 10, 180-195.
Brewer, N., Young, R. L., & Barnett, E. (2017). Measuring Theory of Mind in adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 47, 1927-1941.
Fisher, R., Brewer, N., & Mitchell, G. (2009). The relation between consistency and accuracy of witness testimony: Legal versus cognitive explanations. In R. Bull, T. Valentine, & T. Williamson, (Eds.), Handbook of psychology of investigative interviewing: Current developments and future directions (pp. 121-136). Chichester, UK: John Wiley.
Skinner, N., & Brewer, N. (2004). Adaptive approaches to competition. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 26, 283-305.
Brewer, N., Mitchell, P., & Weber, N. (2002). Gender role, organizational status and conflict resolution style. International Journal of Conflict Resolution, 13, 78-94.
Skinner, N., & Brewer, N. (2002). The dynamics of threat and challenge appraisals prior to stressful achievement events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 678-692.
Semmler, C., & Brewer, N. (2002). The effects of mood and emotion on juror processing and judgments. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 20, 423-436.
Brewer, N., & Ridgway, T. (1998). Effects of supervisory monitoring on productivity and quality of performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 4, 211-227.
Brewer, N., Wilson, C., & Beck, K. (1994). Supervisory behaviour and team performance amongst police patrol sergeants. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 67, 69-78.
Brewer, N., & Smith, G. A. (1989). Developmental changes in processing speed: Influence of speed-accuracy regulation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 118, 298-310.
Brewer, N., & Smith, G. A. (1984). How normal and retarded individuals monitor and regulate speed and accuracy of responding in serial choice tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 113, 71-93.
Brewer, N., & Sandow, B. (1980). Alcohol effects on driver performance under conditions of divided attention. Ergonomics, 23, 185-190.