This unit will provide an introduction to psychology and law. The progression of lecture topics in this unit will roughly follow the course of an investigation and trial of a criminal case, covering issues such as eyewitness memory; false memories; police interviewing techniques; deception detection; and juror decisions. Throughout the unit, the focus will be on how psychological science can (a) help us understand various aspects of the legal system, and (b) help to improve important processes in policing and courtroom trials.

Note: Psychology students are expected to have completed KHA201 – Research Methods 2 or PSY211 Research Skills in Psychology. However, non-psychology students who have not completed KHA201 or PSY211 are welcome to enrol in PSY312. Students will require a very basic understanding of quantitative data to enable them to complete PSY312 (e.g., interpreting simple tables of results). Students will not be expected to conduct any statistical analyses or have an understanding of statistics. Please contact the unit coordinators if you have any inquiries about quantitative requirements for this unit, or if you would like to see some examples of the sort of quantitative tasks that students will be asked to complete.