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Maria Hartwig is a Professor of Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at The City University of New York where she has been on the faculty since 2006. Her scientific expertise is in the psychology of interrogation and the related topic of the psychology of deception. She has produced research with the support of and in collaboration with various government agencies and entities, including law enforcement, the Department of Defense, and the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG). Hartwig’s work on strategic interrogation techniques is widely disseminated and is incorporated in the training programs of the HIG, within federal law enforcement training programs, and in practice on state and local levels.
Research Topics:
Deception detection, interviewing, and interrogation
Current Projects/Research Interests
Project Aletheia
Professor Hartwig is the Director of Project Aletheia (https://project-aletheia.org), a knowledge hub at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, aiming at improving the science and practice of interrogation, and bridging the current gap between research and practice.
Psychology of deception
- Psychological processes of liars and truth tellers, verbal and nonverbal behavior
Interview and interrogation techniques
- Criminal justice system
- Intelligence/military contexts •
Strategic Use of Evidence
- Exploiting suspects’ strategies to elicit cues to deception
Recent Publications
Vrij, A., & Hartwig, M. (2021). Deception and lie detection in the courtroom: the effect of defendants wearing medical face masks. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 10(3), 392-399.
Kelly, C. E., Dawson, E., & Hartwig, M. (2021). Context manipulation in police interviews: a field experiment. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 17(1), 67-86.
Brimbal, L., Bradford, B., Jackson, J., & Hartwig, M. (2020). Acceptance and implementation of evidence-based policing: On the importance of a procedurally fair organizational climate to openness to change among law enforcement investigators. Law and Human Behavior.
Brimbal, L., Bradford, B., Jackson, J., Hartwig, M., & Joseph, E. (2020). On the importance of a procedurally fair organizational climate for openness to change in law enforcement. Law and Human Behavior, 44(5), 394.
