Tess M.S. Neal, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in ASU's New College of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, where she is the Principal Investigator of the Clinical and Legal Judgment Lab and serves as director of the Future of Forensic Science Initiative (website under development). She is a founding faculty member of ASU's Law and Behavioral Science group and is a PLuS Alliance fellow. She is a scientist, a licensed psychologist (State of Arizona #4630 and State of Nebraska #844 [voluntary inactive status in NE]), and a parent of two young children.
Her research is funded by multiple grants from the National Science Foundation, and she has published one edited book and more than three dozen peer-reviewed publications in such journals as Psychological Science in the Public Interest; American Psychologist; PLOS ONE; and Criminal Justice and Behavior. She serves as associate editor for the Journal of Personality Assessment and Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, and as an Open Science Advisor for Clinical Psychological Science.
She was named a 2016 "Rising Star" by the Association for Psychological Science (APS), a designation recognizing outstanding psychological scientists in the earliest stages of their research career post-PhD whose innovative work has already advanced the field and signals great potential for their continued contributions. She received the 2016 Saleem Shah Award for Early Career Excellence in Psychology and Law, co-awarded by the American Psychology-Law Society (Div. 41 of APA) and the American Academy of Forensic Psychology. In 2020, she was awarded ASU's Outstanding Mentor Award.
The central theme motivating our research is the desire to understand the way people think and reach decisions, as well as how to improve these processes to result in better outcomes for society. We are especially interested in human judgment processes as they intersect with the law. We approach these questions with different methods, such as descriptive studies that yield foundational information about phenomena that precedes explanatory experimental work, experimental methods that can yield causal inferences, and integrative syntheses across methods and sources. We study rich, real-world behaviors, embrace open science practices, and weave together theories and methods from the clinical, social, and cognitive traditions of psychological science.
Our work on these topics is organized by three overlapping categories:
Clinical and Legal Judgment Lab: http://psych-law.lab.asu.edu/
ASU Program on Law and Behavioral Science: http://lawpsych.asu.edu/
Neal, T.M.S., Saks, M.J., Geisinger, K., Slobogin, C. & Faigman, D. (2019). Psychological assessments in legal contexts: Are courts keeping “junk science” out of the courtroom? Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 20(3), 135-164. doi: 10.1177/1529100619888860.
MacLean, N., Neal, T.M.S., Morgan, R.D., & Murrie, D.C. (2019). Forensic clinicians’ understanding of bias. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 25(4), 323-330. doi: 10.1037/law0000212.
Neal, T.M.S. (2018). Forensic psychology and correctional psychology: Distinct but related subfields of psychological science and practice. American Psychologist, 73, 651-662. doi: 10.1037/amp0000227
Neal, T.M.S. & Cramer, R.J. (2017). Moral disengagement in legal judgments. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 14, 745-761. doi: 10.1111/jels.12163
Neal, T.M.S. (2016). Are forensic experts already biased before adversarial legal parties hire them? PLOS ONE., 11, e0154434. doi:10.1371/ journal.pone.0154434
Neal, T.M.S. & Brodsky, S.L. (2016). Forensic psychologists’ perceptions of bias and potential correction strategies in forensic mental health evaluations. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 22, 58-76. doi: 10.1037/law0000077.
Neal, T.M.S. & Grisso, T. (2014). Assessment practices and expert judgment methods in forensic psychology and psychiatry: An International Snapshot. Criminal Justice & Behavior, 41, 1406-1421. doi:10.1177/0093854814548449.
Neal, T.M.S. & Grisso, T. (2014). The cognitive underpinnings of bias in forensic mental health evaluations. Psychology, Public Policy, & Law, 20, 200-211. doi:10.1037/a0035824
Spring 2021 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
PSY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
PSY 493 | Honors Thesis |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 546 | Advanced Forensic Psychology |
PSY 580 | Practicum |
PSY 592 | Research |
PSY 593 | Applied Project |
PSY 599 | Thesis |
PSY 792 | Research |
Fall 2020 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
PSY 474 | Correctional Psychology |
PSY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
PSY 493 | Honors Thesis |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 592 | Research |
PSY 593 | Applied Project |
PSY 599 | Thesis |
PSY 792 | Research |
Spring 2020 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
PSY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
PSY 493 | Honors Thesis |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 547 | Correctional Psychology |
PSY 592 | Research |
PSY 599 | Thesis |
Fall 2019 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
PSY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
PSY 493 | Honors Thesis |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 546 | Advanced Forensic Psychology |
PSY 592 | Research |
PSY 593 | Applied Project |
PSY 599 | Thesis |
PSY 792 | Research |
Spring 2019 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 368 | Forensic Psychology |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
PSY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
PSY 493 | Honors Thesis |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 580 | Practicum |
PSY 592 | Research |
PSY 599 | Thesis |
Fall 2018 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
PSY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
PSY 493 | Honors Thesis |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 547 | Correctional Psychology |
PSY 592 | Research |
PSY 599 | Thesis |
Spring 2018 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 474 | Correctional Psychology |
PSY 546 | Advanced Forensic Psychology |
PSY 592 | Research |
PSY 599 | Thesis |
Fall 2017 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
PSY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
PSY 493 | Honors Thesis |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 592 | Research |
PSY 599 | Thesis |
Spring 2017 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 368 | Forensic Psychology |
PSY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
PSY 493 | Honors Thesis |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 592 | Research |
Fall 2016 | |
---|---|
Course Number | Course Title |
PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
PSY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
PSY 494 | Special Topics |
PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
PSY 592 | Research |
PSY 598 | Special Topics |