EDUCATION

Ph.D.Social Psychology
Iowa State University- Ames, Iowa

M.S. Social Psychology
Iowa State University- Ames, Iowa

B. S. Psychology (Honours)
Queen’s University- Kingston, Canada

 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Dr. Charman's research interests lie mainly in the area of eyewitness psychology. More specifically, his research topics include: the underlying cognitive processes of eyewitnesses; various lineup procedures that may improve eyewitness performance; the forensic usefulness (and dangers) of facial composites; and the processes by which crime suspects generate alibis (and how those alibis are subsequently evaluated). His research has been published in book chapters, encyclopedia entries, and scientific journal articles, including Law and Human Behavior, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, and Current Directions in Psychological Science. He currently maintains a legal psychology lab that involves numerous undergraduate and graduate students. He hopes that his work will help improve the accuracy of criminal trial verdicts, which, as recent DNA exoneration cases have shown, can be tragically mistaken.

 

COURSES TAUGHT

· Introduction to Social Psychology
· Proseminar in Social Psychology
· Social Cognition

 

SELECT PUBLICATIONS

Charman, S. D. & Wells, G. L. (in press). Can eyewitnesses correct for external influences on their lineup identifications? The actual/counterfactual assessment paradigm. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied.

Charman, S. D. (in press). Appearance Change instruction. Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law. London: Sage Publications.

Charman, S. D. & Wells, G. L. (2007). Eyewitness lineups: Is the appearance-change instruction a good idea? Law and Human Behavior, 31, 3-22.

Charman, S. D., & Wells, G. L. (2007). Eyewitness identification. In David S. Clark (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Law and Society. London: Sage Publications.

Charman, S. D. & Wells, G. L. (2007). Applied lineup theory. In R. C. L. Lindsay, D. Ross, D. Read, & M. Toglia (Eds.), Handbook of Eyewitness Psychology. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Wells, G. L., Charman, S. D., & Olson, E. A. (2005). Building face composites can harm
lineup identification performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 11, 147-156.

Wells, G. L., Olson, E. A., & Charman, S. D. (2003). Distorted retrospective eyewitness reports as functions of feedback and delay. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 9, 42-52.