Willing to accept Primary and Secondary students for Fall 2026
Margaret Bull Kovera is a Presidential Scholar and Professor in the Psychology Department. She is an internationally recognized expert on eyewitness identification and legal decision making. For over twenty-five years, she has had continuous funding (over $2.8 million) from federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation and the Bureau of Justice Assistance, for her research on eyewitness identification, jury decision-making, and scientific evidence. Her research on these topics has been published in Law and Human Behavior, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Applied Research on Memory and Cognition, and Psychology, Public Policy, and Law. Her book, The psychology of juries (published by the American Psychological Association), received the American Psychology-Law Society Book Award.
Kovera is an elected member of the Board of Directors of the American Psychological Association, a Past-President of the American Psychology-Law Society, and former Editor-in-Chief of Law and Human Behavior, the premier outlet for scholarship in psychology and law. She is the recipient of the Saleem Shah Award for Early Career Achievement in Psychology and Law (APLS and the American Academy of Forensic Psychology), the Outstanding Teacher and Mentor in Psychology and Law Award (APLS), Distinguished Teaching Award (John Jay College), Outstanding Scholarly Mentor Award (John Jay College), the Distinguished Service Award (SPSSI), and Outstanding Book in Psychology and Law (APLS). Most recently, she received the American Psychology-Law Society’s Award for Distinguished Career Contributions to Psychology and Law. She regularly serves as an expert witness in cases involving eyewitness identification.
Research Topics:
Psychology and Law; Social Psychology of Eyewitness Identification; Jury Decision Making
Current Projects/Research Interests
Eyewitness identification
- Do general social cues encouraging witnesses to make a positive identification magnify suspect bias (NSF-funded, with Ellie Aronson, Jennifer Jones, and Jason Carty)
- Juror evaluations of in-court identifications (AP-LS funded, w/ Ellie Aronson and Jessica Fagan)
- Effect of video recordings on jurors (APLS-funded; w/ Melanie Fessinger and Jennifer Jones)
- Juror sensitivity to variations in evidence-based suspicion prior to an eyewitness identification procedure (w/ Jaleel King, and Jackie Katzman)
- Juror sensitivity to the effects of coercive interrogation techniques in eyewitness interviews (w/ Lexie Hardy)
- The effects of coercive interrogation techniques in eyewitness interviews (w/ Jason Carty)
- Evidence-based suspicion and juror sensitivity to strength of pre-identification evidence (w/ Lillian Phillips)
Facial Recognition Technology (FRT)
- The effects of database size on the probative value of FRT matches (w/ Jaleel King and Amanda Bergold)
- Context effects on police use of information provided by FRT (w/ Amanda Bergold and Jaleel King
- Whether knowledge that suspect was generated using FRT affects witness (w/ Jessica Ferguson and Jaleel King) and juror decisions (w/Jaleel King)
Plea-bargaining
- The effects of coercive interrogation techniques in eyewitness interviews on defense attorney’s perceptions on plea deals (w/ Jason Carty, Ellie Aronson, and Lexie Hardy)
Racial bias in policing and eyewitness identification
- Does phenotypic bias put innocent suspects at risk of misidentification? (NSF-funded; with Jacqueline Katzman, Jennifer Jones, Melanie Fessinger, Andrew Evelo, and Melanie Close)
- Racial disparities in evidence-based suspicion in cases pending consideration for innocence litigation support (BJA-funded; with Jacqueline Katzman, Stacie Keck, Ellie Aronson, Jaleel King, Lillian Phillips, Jason Carty, McKenna Cameron, Jadaera Lorenzo)
Recent Publications
Fessinger, M. B., Katzman, J. A., Close, M. J., & Kovera, M. B. (in press). Deceptive interrogation tactics have downstream consequences on innocent and guilty defendants’ plea decisions.Law and Human Behavior.
Levett, L. M., & Kovera, M. B. (in press). Jury decision making. In P. A. Zapf & Sivasubramaniam, D. (Eds.), APA Handbook of forensic psychology, Vol. 2: Criminal investigation, adjudication, and sentencing outcomes (2nd Ed.). American Psychological Association.
Kovera, M. B. (2025). The translation of psychological science for the public good: Commentary on Marcus et al. (2025). American Psychologist, 80(7), 997–998. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0001580
Katzman, J., Welch, E., & Kovera, M. B. (2025). In-court identifications affect juror decisions despite being unreliable. Law and Human Behavior, 49(4), 376–386. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000617
Bergold., A. N., & Kovera, M. B. (2025). The contribution of facial recognition technology to wrongful arrests and trauma.Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 17(S1), S225–S233. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0001783
Aronson, E., & Kovera, M. B. (2025). Social influence in legal processes and decision-making. In R. Prislin (Ed.), Research handbook on social influence (pp. 365–379). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Katzman, J., & Kovera, M. B. (2024). Suspect race affects defense attorney evaluations of pre-identification evidence. Law and Human Behavior, 48(5–6), 385–397.https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000566
Jones, J. M., Katzman, J., & Kovera, M. B. (2024). Phenotypic mismatch between suspects and fillers but not phenotypic bias increases eyewitness identifications of Black suspects. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1233782. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1233782.
Kovera, M. B. (2024). The role of suspect development practices in eyewitness identification accuracy and racial disparities in wrongful conviction. Social Issues and Policy Review, 18, 125–147. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12102
Katzman, J., & Kovera, M. B. (2024). Police decisions involved in collecting eyewitness identification evidence. In M. K. Miller, L. A. Yelderman, M. T. Huss, & J. A. Cantone (Eds.), Cambridge handbook of psychology and legal decision-making (pp. 117–128). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/978/1009119375.008
Fessinger, M. B., & Kovera, M. B. (2023). An offer you cannot refuse: Plea offer size affects innocent but not guilty defendants’ perceptions of voluntariness. Law and Human Behavior, 47(6), 619-633. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000548
Kovera, M. B., & Aronson, E. (2023). Eyewitness identification. In B. Fox & E. Verona (Eds.), Handbook of evidence-based criminal justice practices. Routledge.
Kovera, M. B., & Fessinger, M. B. (2023). Prosecutorial misconduct. In D. DeMatteo & K. Scherr (Eds.)., The Oxford handbook of psychology and law (pp. 692–708). Oxford University Press.
Katzman, J. & Kovera, M.B. (2023). Potential causes of racial disparities in wrongful convictions based on mistaken identifications: Own-race bias and differences in evidence-based suspicion. Law and Human Behavior, 47(1), 23–35. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000503
Fessinger, M. B., & Kovera, M. B. (2022). From whose perspective? Differences between actors and observers in determining the voluntariness of guilty pleas.Law and Human Behavior, 46(5), 353–371. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000501
Bergold, A. N. & Kovera, M. B. (2022). Diversity’s impact on the quality of jury deliberation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 48(9), 1406–1420. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672211040960
Katzman, J., & Kovera., M. B. (2022). Evidence strength (insufficiently) affects police officers’ decisions to place a suspect in a lineup. Law and Human Behavior, 46(1), 30–44. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000476
Perillo, J. T., Perillo, A., Despodova, N. & Kovera, M. B. (2021). Testing the waters? An investigation of the impact of hot tubbing from referral through testimony. Law and Human Behavior, 45(3), 229–242. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000446
Kovera, M. B., & Evelo, A. J. (2021). Diversity will benefit eyewitness science. Journal of Research in Applied Memory and Cognition, 10(3), 363–367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2021.04.003
Kovera, M. B., & Evelo, A. J. (2021). Eyewitness identification in its social context. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 10(3), 313–327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2021.04.003
Kovera, M. B, & Evelo, A. J. (2020). Improving Eyewitness-Identification Evidence Through Double-Blind Lineup Administration. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 29(6), 563-568.
Wells, G. L., Kovera, M. B., Douglass, A. B., Brewer, N., Meissner, C. A., & Wixted, J. T. (2020). Policy and procedure recommendations for the collection and preservation of eyewitness identification evidence. Law and Human Behavior, 44(1), 3–36. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000359
Kovera, M. B. (2019). Racial disparities in the criminal justice system: Prevalence, causes, and a search for solutions. Journal of Social Issues, 75, 1139–1164. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/josi.12355
