Dr. Krystia Reed

Research


Main Research Areas

Dr. Reed is interested in researching legal questions with a social psychological lens. Dr. Reed is interested in understanding how legal actors (i.e., attorneys, juries, judges, probation officers, and voters) make legal decisions and how those decisions can be improved. Within that goal, she uses experimental social psychology methods to research three primary areas of research: attorney behavior, legal decision making, and program evaluation. She has researched a variety of questions in relation to each of these areas, including:


Attorney Behavior

  • How can we improve legal education to better prepare attorneys to ethically practice law?
  • Do targeted trainings help improve legal performance and client perceptions of their attorneys?
  • What are the rates and consequences of law student and attorney distress?

Legal Decision Making

  • How do procedural decisions (e.g., objections, joinder) influence juror decisions?
  • How do extra-legal factors (e.g., attorney attractiveness) and juror characteristics (e.g., gender, numeracy) influence juror decisions?
  • How do jurors decide on damage award amounts?
  • Does sympathy influence voter's opinions of policies?
  • What factors go in to a probation officer's determination of risk of recidivism?

Program Evaluation

  • Does training attorneys improve attorney performance in terms of motion practice and client perceptions of procedural justice?
  • What factors increase the likelihood of juveniles being placed out-of-home following a status offense?
  • How accurate are the instruments probation officers use to assess recidivism?
  • Can training decrease probation officer bias in risk assessment?
  • How effective are police officer interventions in high schools at reducing gang activity?

Citation format:

Publications

Manuscripts in Preparation

  • Reed, K. & Bornstein, B. H. (Manuscript in Preparation). ). Calls for speculation: The influence of attorney objections on juror perceptions.
  • Reed, K., Fessinger, M., & Bornstein, B.H. (Manuscript in Preparation). What's in a name? Eponymous policies and public support.
  • Helm, R., Hans, V. P., Reyna, V. F., & Reed, K. (Manuscript in Preparation). Numeracy in the jury box: The influence of juror numeracy on damage award decisions.

Publications

  • Reed, K., Dellapaolera, K.S., Thimsen, S., & Bornstein, B.H. (2018). An empirical analysis of law-psychology journals: Who's publishing and on what? In M. K. Miller & B. H. Bornstein (Eds.), Advances in Psychology and Law (vol. 3). New York, NY: Springer Science Business Media.
  • Reed, K. (2018). Trial, interrupted: Juror perceptions of attorney objections. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE.
  • Reed, K. & Bornstein, B.H. (2018). Objection! Psychological perspectives on jurors' perceptions of in-court attorney objections. South Dakota Law Review, 63, 1-43.
  • Reed, K. & Bornstein, B. H. (2017). Grounds for relief: The implications of attorney distress for the legal system. Nebraska Lawyer.
  • Bornstein, B.H., Golding, J.L., Neuschatz, J., Kimbrough, K., Reed, K., Magyarics, C., & Luecht, K. (2017). Mock juror sampling issues in jury simulation research: A meta-analysis. Law & Human Behavior, 41, 13-28. doi: 10.1037/lhb0000223
  • Reed, K., Bornstein, B. H., Jeon, A. B., & Wylie, L. E. (2016). Problem signs in law school: Fostering attorney well-being early in professional training. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 47, 148-156. doi: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2016.02.019
  • Reed, K., & Bornstein, B.H. (2015). Juries, joinder, and justice. The Jury Expert, 27(3), 1-7.
  • Reed, K. (2015). Culpable by association: Juror decision making in joined civil cases (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE.
  • Reed, K., & Bornstein, B. H. (2015). Using mock jury studies to measure community sentiment toward child sexual abusers. In M. K. Miller, J.A. Blumenthal, & J. Chamberlain (Eds.), Handbook of community sentiment (pp. 57-68). New York, NY: Springer Science Business Media.
  • American Psychology-Law Society Student Committee (2015). The state of training in law and psychology: Opportunities, needs, and recommendations for students, professionals, and field leaders.
  • Wiener, R.L., Reed, K.., Delgado, R.H., & Caldwell, A.D. (2014). Validation study of the LS/CMI assessment tool in Nebraska (Research Report July 2014).
  • Reed, K., & Bornstein, B. H. (2013). A stressful profession: The experience of attorneys. In M.K. Miller & B.H. Bornstein (Eds.), Trauma, stress, and wellbeing in the legal system (pp. 217-244). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
  • Reed, K. (2010). Hot or not? The influence of attorney attractiveness and gender on juror decision-making (Unpublished undergraduate thesis). Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, CA.

Manuscripts in Preparation

  • Calls for Speculation: The Influence of Attorney Objections on Juror Perceptions (job talk paper).
  • Numeracy in the Jury Box: The Influence of Juror Numeracy on Damage Award Decisions (under review) (with Rebecca Helm, Valerie P. Hans, & Valerie F. Reyna).
  • What's in a Name? Eponymous Policies and Public Support (in preparation) (with Melanie Fessinger & Brian Bornstein).
  • Scaling Damage Awards (in preparation) (with Valerie P. Hans, Valerie F. Reyna, David M. N. Garavito, & Rebecca Helm).
  • Law Student Ethical Perceptions (in preparation) (with Jennifer K. Robbennolt).

Publications

  • An Empirical Analysis of Law-Psychology Journals: Who's Publishing and on What?, in 3 Advances in Psychology & Law 285 (Monica K. Miller & Brian H. Bornstein, eds., 2018) (with Kimberly Dellapaoera, Sarah Thimsen, & Brian Bornstein).
  • Objection! Psychological Perspectives on Jurors' Perceptions of In-Court Attorney Objections, 63 S.D. L.Rev. 1 (2018) (with Brian Bornstein).
  • Grounds for Relief: The Implications of Attorney Distress for the Legal System20 Neb. Lawyer 41 (2017) (with Brian Bornstein).
  • Mock Juror Sampling Issues in Jury Simulation Research: A Meta-Analysis, 41 Law & Hum. Behav. 13 (2017) (with Brian Bornstein, Jonathan Golding, Jeffrey Neuschatz, Christopher Kimbrough, Casey Magyarics, & Katherine Luecht).
  • Probelm Signs in Law School: Fostering Attorney Well-Being Early in Professional Training, 47 Int'l J.L. & Psychiatry 148 (2016) (with Brian Bornstein, Andrew Jeon, & Lindsey Wylie).
  • Juries, Joinder, & Justice, 27 The Jury Expert 1 (2015) (with Brian Bornstein).
  • Using Mock Jury Studies to Measure Community Sentiment Toward Child Sexual Abusers, in Handbook of Community Sentiment 57 (Monica K. Miller, Jeremy A. Blumenthal, & Jared Chamberlain eds., 2015) (with Brian Bornstein).
  • American Psychology-Law Society Student Committee, The State of Training in Law and Psychology: Opportunities, Needs, and Recommendations for Students, Professsionals, and Field Leaders (2015).
  • Validation Study of the LS/CMI Assessment Tool in Nebraska (2014) (with Richard Wiener, R. Hazel Delgado, & Alisha Caldwell).
  • A Stressful Profession: The Experience of Attorneys, in Trauma, Stress & Wellbeing in the Legal System 217 (Monica K. Miller & Brian H. Bornstein eds., 2013) (with Brian Bornstein).

Program Evaluation and Consultation Experience