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Daphna Spivack

Psychological biases affect human decision-making in the American judicial and political systems in a myriad of ways. I study how implicit racial bias and motivated reasoning influence our legal systems—from prosecutorial discretion, to juror decision-making in the courtroom, to our policy preferences. Such biases can be particularly insidious because they are often outside of the decision-maker’s conscious awareness. Key to this inquiry, is learning how we can intervene to disrupt biased processing and increase the fairness and legitimacy of our judicial institutions. By understanding where and how biased processing affects judicial and political outcomes, we can begin to design policies and interventions that mitigate the effects of these biases.