Veronica Stinson
Faculty of Science
Psychology
Professor of Psychology
Office: McNally South 327
Email: veronica.stinson@smu.ca
My research focuses on intersections of social cognitive psychology with the legal system. Specifically, my research examines decision-making by jurors, judges, lawyers, and other legal professionals. For example, how has the COVID-19 pandemic affected people's willingness to serve on a jury, and what might be some repercussions for having representative juries in Canada? My students and I have also examined factors that affect eyewitness memory for crimes. More recently, my research team has been exploring the role of crime victims in our criminal justice system, focusing on victim impact statements. For example, do victim impact statements affect sentencing outcomes? These research projects seek to shed light on under-examined research questions in an effort to advance the scholarly literature and also arm decision-makers with scientific data so they can make more evidence-based decisions.