My research group is concerned with situated social cognition, in other words studying social cognitive processes with respect to the particular situations within which they operate. Our work bridges the areas of social psychology, cognitive psychology and legal psychology.

Our current work is focused on criminal stereotypes. We use the term criminality to refer to the extent to which a person’s appearance triggers stereotypes about criminals. Aspects of criminality that we are currently exploring are the content of people's stereotypes about criminals, how criminality effects lineup choices and eyewitness memory, the role of photo artifact in criminality, and the basic question of what makes someone look like a criminal.

We are interested in issues of theory and application, and one of our goals concerns how to take the results of laboratory investigations and apply them to relevant contexts.

Primary Interests:

Applied Social Psychology
Law and Public Policy
Prejudice and Stereotyping
Social Cognition

Applied Social Psychology
Law and Public Policy

Prejudice and Stereotyping
Social Cognition

Research Group or Laboratory:

Social Psychology and Law Research Group [Map]

Books:

MacLin, M. K., & MacLin, O. H. (in preparation). Psychology and law. New York: Worth Publishers.
MacLin, M. K., & Solso, R. S. (2008). Experimental psychology: A case approach (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Solso, R. L., MacLin, O. H., & MacLin, M. K. (2008). Cognitive psychology (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Journal Articles:

MacLin, M. K. (2002). The effects of exemplar and prototype descriptors on verbal overshadowing. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 16, 929-936.
MacLin, M. K., & Herrera, V. (2006). The criminal stereotype. North American Journal of Psychology.
MacLin, M. K., MacLin, O. H., & Albrechtsen, J. S. (2006). Using image manipulation to construct fair lineups: The case of the Buddy Holly glasses. Canadian Journal of Police and Security Services.
MacLin, M. K., Zimmerman, L., Meissner, C. A., MacLin, O. H., Tredoux, C., & Malpass, R. S. (in press). The science of collecting eyewitness evidence: A collaborative effort between researchers and law enforcement. Police, Practice and Research: An International Journal.
MacLin, O. H., & MacLin, M. K. (2005). Coding observational data: A software solution. Behavioral Research Methods 37(2), 224-231.
MacLin, O. H., & MacLin, M. K. (2004). The effect of criminality on face attractiveness, typicality, memorability and recognition. The North American Journal of Psychology, 6(1), 145-154.
MacLin, O. H., MacLin, M. K., & Garcia, D. (2004). Alias use among prison inmates. Journal of Police and Security Services.
MacLin, O. H., MacLin, M. K, & Malpass, R. S. (2001). Race, arousal, attention, exposure and delay: An examination of factors mediating face recognition. Psychology, Public Policy and Law, 7(1), 134-152.

Other Publications:

MacLin, M. K. (in press). Experimental design. In the Encyclopedia of Social Psychology. Sage Publishers.
MacLin, M. K. (2006). A tribute to Robert L. Solso: A collection of remembrances. APS Observer, 19(2), 29-34.
MacLin, M. K. (2004). Psychological theories of crime: An overview. In M. Miller (Ed.) The encyclopedia of criminology. Taylor and Francis publishers.
MacLin, M. K. (Winter, 2006). Implementing a mock crime, investigation and trial into your psychology and law course. AP-LS Teaching Techniques. American Psychology-Law Society.

Courses Taught:

Introductory Psychology
Psychology and Law
Research Methods
Social Psychology
Social Psychology of Jurors and Juries
Wrongful Conviction: Causes, Consequences, and Reform

Introductory Psychology
Psychology and Law
Research Methods

Social Psychology
Social Psychology of Jurors and Juries
Wrongful Conviction: Causes, Consequences, and Reform

M. Kimberly MacLin
Department of Psychology
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, IA 50614
United States

Phone: (319) 273-2302
Fax: (319) 273-6188