# Jeff Kukucka

Jeff Kukucka is a legal psychologist specializing in wrongful convictions. As of October 2024, he is an associate professor at Towson University.

## Education

Jeff Kukucka received his Bachelor's of Arts from Loyola College in Maryland in Psychology in 2009. While at Loyola College, Kukucka began engaging in research with Kerri Goodwin in conformity in relation to eyewitness memory. Following this, he received his M.A. in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice (2012) and his Ph.D. from CUNY Graduate Center (2014). Kukucka participated in research on forensic interviewing when it comes to juveniles as well as metacognition while working with Maggie Bruck. Finally, while pursuing his Ph.D, Kukucka worked primarily under Saul Kassin in Psychology and Law. Jeff Kukucka's education was a culminated with his dissertation entitled An Investigation of Factors that Create and Mitigate Confirmation Bias in Judgments of Handwriting Evidence

## Research

Jeff Kukucka's research primarily revolves around the wrongful convictions focusing on both the causes and the impacts as a result. This research becomes narrowed with a particular interest in errors in regards to the forensic evidence as well as what life is like for individuals following an exoneration due to a wrongful conviction. During his time at Towson University, Kukucka leads the Psychology and Law at Towson (PLaTo) Lab where members of the lab seek to bridge the gap between psychology and how improvements can be made to the criminal justice system. Through this lab, both undergraduate and master's students are brought together to make up this research team. Outside of wrongful convictions, Kukucka also engages in research related to police interrogations and false confessions.
One 2020 study took a look at the challenges that individuals face following an exoneration when attempting to return to the work force. Kukucka, et al. looked to identify a potential bias towards people who have been exonerated of a crime by hiring managers. This was done by recruiting hiring managers and assigning them to separate conditions; one condition reviewed the application of an exonerated individual, one condition reviewed the application of an individual correctly convicted of a felony, and one condition that reviewed the application of an individual with no connection to the justice system. Researchers found that those applicants who were exonerated of a crime were viewed similarly to the applicants who were convicted of felonies.

## Select publications

* Dror, I., Melinek, J., Arden, J. L., Kukucka, J., Hawkins, S., Carter, J., & Atherton, D. S. (2021). Cognitive bias in forensic pathology decisions. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 66(5), 1751–1757. https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.14697
* Kassin, S. M., Dror, I. E., & Kukucka, J. (2013). The forensic confirmation bias: Problems, perspectives, and proposed solutions. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 2(1), 42–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2013.01.001
* Kassin, S. M., Kukucka, J., Lawson, V. Z., & DeCarlo, J. (2014). Does video recording alter the behavior of police during interrogation? A mock crime-and-investigation study. Law and Human Behavior, 38(1), 73–83. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000047
* Kukucka, J., & Kassin, S. M. (2014). Do confessions taint perceptions of handwriting evidence? An empirical test of the forensic confirmation bias. Law and Human Behavior, 38(3), 256–270. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000066
* Kukucka, J., Kassin, S. M., Zapf, P. A., & Dror, I. E. (2017). Cognitive bias and blindness: A global survey of forensic science examiners. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 6(4), 452–459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jarmac.2017.09.001
* Zapf, P. A., Kukucka, J., Kassin, S. M., & Dror, I. E. (2018). Cognitive bias in forensic mental health assessment: Evaluator beliefs about its nature and scope. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 24(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000153

## Awards

* Towson University Honors College Professor of the Year (2018)
* American Psychology-Law Society Saleem Shah Award for Early Career Excellence (2020)
* Association for Psychological Science Rising Star Award (2021)