Websites
Biography
I am a professor of psychology and currently serve as the department chair. I earned my Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology with a concentration in Psychology and Law from the University of Wyoming in 2010. I joined the faculty at UND in the fall of 2010 and have been a core member of the Experimental and Forensic Faculty since my arrival. In general my work tries to understand psychological mechanisms relevant to legal decision-making.
Psyc 250 - Developmental Psychology
Psyc 361 - Social Psychology
Psyc 362 - Psychology and Law
Psyc 534 - Eyewitness Memory and Testimony
Psyc 524 - Psychology and Law
Psyc 560 - Social Psychology
My research interests lie in the areas of social and cognitive psychological processes relevant to the law. I am specifically interested in [1] eyewitness memory, [2] juror decision-making, and [3] perception of witnesses. My research involving eyewitness memory focuses on the cross-race effect and false memory distortions. My research on juror decision-making focuses on the impact of emotion on juror memory and sentencing decisions in capital trials and perceptions and judgments in hate crimes. My research interests involving perception of witnesses concern the perceived veracity of child and alibi witnesses. Generally speaking, I am interested in applying basic theory in social and cognitive psychology to gain a better understanding of how individuals remember witnessed events and make decisions in a legal context.
Representative Publications:
Ruthig, J., & Kehn, A., Gamblin, B.W., Vanderzanden, K., & Jones, K. (2017). When women’s gains equal men’s losses: Predicting a zero-sum perspective of gender discrimination. Sex Roles, 76, 17-26.
Cramer, R. J., Clark III, J. W., Kehn, A., Burks, A. C., & Wechsler, H. J. (2014). A mock juror investigation of blame attribution in the punishment of hate crime perpetrators. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 37, 551-557.
Kehn, A., Renken, M. D., Gray, J. M., & Nunez, N. L. (2014). Developmental trends in the process of constructing own- and other-race facial composites. Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied, 148, 287-304.
Freng, S., & Kehn, A. (2013). Determining true and false witnessed events: Can an eyewitness-implicit association test distinguish between the seen and unseen? Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. 20, 761-780.
Kehn, A., & Ruthig, J. C. (2013). Perceptions of gender discrimination across six decade: The moderating roles of gender and age. Sex Roles, 69, 289-296. doi 10.1007/s11199-013-0303-2
Cramer, R. J., Kehn, A., Pennington, C. R., Wechsler, H. J., Clark III, J. W., & Nagle, J. (2013). An examination of sexual orientation and transgender-based hate crimes in the post Matthew Shepard era. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 19, 355-368.
Myers, B., Roop, A., Kalnen, D., & Kehn, A. (2013). Victim impact statements and crime heinousness: A test of the saturation hypothesis. Psychology, Crime, and Law, 19 (2), 129-143. doi 10.1080/1068316X.2011.614244
Nunez, N., Kehn, A., & Wright, D. B. (2011). When children are witnesses: The effects of context, age, and gender on adults' perceptions of cognitive ability and honesty. Applied Cognitive Psychology.
University of Wyoming, Ph.D., Experimental Psychology - Psychology and Law Focus, 2010
University of Wyoming, M.S, Experimental Psychology - Psychology and Law Focus, 2007
Mount Olive College, B.S., Psychology and Business Administration, 2004
I will be accepting graduate students to begin in fall 2025.