Cornell will offer a new graduate concentration, Law, Psychology and Human Development, beginning in fall 2007 to prepare scholars who will contribute original research in human development and the law, and in psychology and the law.

The program takes advantage of Cornell's cluster of nationally recognized scholars in law and social science across three colleges -- Arts and Sciences, Human Ecology and the Law School -- says Charles Brainerd, professor of human development, who is coordinating the new program.

"Law is about what people say and report, and what they say is what they remember," says Brainerd, the author of "The Science of False Memory" (2005). "Historically, legal studies have not been an empirical science; they have not been scientifically based on research data on human beings."

According to recent statistics, physical forensic evidence is gathered in less than 10 percent of felonies. When such evidence is gathered, it is usable in less than half of those cases.

"What that means," Brainerd says, "is that the evidence that is being used is evidence from people's memories. Even when physical forensic evidence is used in court, it is presented by an expert who's talking from memory."

The other neglected aspect of the law that this new curriculum addresses is the psychology behind what people do with the information presented in court. For example, what is the cognitive psychology of juries? How do jurors make judgments and decisions?

"If science is going to be helpful to the practice of the law, it has to provide the best information on human memory, judgment and decision-making," Brainerd says.

Other faculty members involved with the program are Stephen Ceci, John Eckenrode, Valerie Reyna and Wendy Williams, all in the Department of Human Development in the College of Human Ecology. The Cornell Law School faculty participating are John Blume, Roger Cramton, Valerie Hans and Jeffrey Rachlinski; the psychology faculty member is David Dunning.

Adapted from Human Ecology magazine.