Friday, April 23
3:00-5:30	Registration—D.W. Reynolds Lobby
4:00	Welcome—Room 10        Dr. Leslie Templeton        Dr. Jennifer Penner
4:30-5:30	First Paper Session*
5:45	Keynote Address—Room 10  “When We Cast Stones: The Psychology of Conviction and Punishment”        Dr. Michael Sargent, Bates College
7:00	Dinner—Student Life and Technology Center, Room 173
8:00	Entertainment: Movie and Discussion—Mills B
Saturday, April 24
8:00-10:00	Registration—D.W. Reynolds Lobby
8:30-9:30	First Paper Session*
8:30-10:00	Poster Session—Room 137
9:30-10:00	Coffee Break
9:45-10:00	Photography Exhibit— D.W. Reynolds Lobby “An Integration of Art and Psychology: Nature vs. Nurture”                                    Kristen McMenamy, Hendrix College
10:10-11:10	Second Paper Session*
11:20-12:20	Third Paper Session*

*All paper sessions will be held in D.W. Reynolds in Rooms 8, 10, 12, and 13.

Click here to download the 2010 ASPS program.

Michael J. Sargent, Associate Professor of Psychology, Bates College, is our invited speaker.  His talk is titled, "When We Cast Stones:  The Psychology of Conviction and Punishment"

Humans’ actions often qualify as “wrong” in others’ eyes, often because they are obviously harmful to others, or because they violate some legal, ethical, or moral code, or both. When such actions occur, others react. Parents spank. States impose fines, prison terms, or even death. Nation-states retaliate militarily against aggression. This talk reviews research on the principles that govern these reactions, focusing on the ways that reactions differ depending on the nature of the original act, who committed it, who is judging, and how those judging think about the action. Sinners though we may all be, we do cast stones. This research seeks to understand when, how, and to what ends.

Michael Sargent, Ph.D. is a social psychologist who studies the impact of social category information on judgment and decision making. For example, what impact does a criminal suspect's race have on the ways in which law enforcement officers react to him or her? Dr. Sargent examines this broad set of issues with a twofold focus: first, he examines relatively automatic processes (e.g., processes that operate without the awareness of the person forming a judgment), especially when those processes play out in judgments and decisions made under time pressure, as when a law enforcement officer must quickly decide whether a given individual is armed or not. Second, Dr. Sargent examines relatively deliberative processes that play out over time (e.g., when a judge applies prior case law to a specific case). In all of his work, he is interested in the extent to which individuals base their judgments and decisions on the factors that they say are relevant, and the extent to which they ignore factors that they say are irrelevant.  

For more information about Dr. Sargent's research and links to his publications, click here to visit his website at Bates College.