Daniel A Krau
Biographic Data
| ID | 4126726 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Daniel A Krau |
| GIVEN NAMES | Daniel A |
| FAMILY NAME | Krau |
| SIGNATURE | KRAU D A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Claremont McKenna College |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4144-800X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 12 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Unraveling Volitional Impairment: Forensic Psychological Perspectives on Volitional Impairment in Sexually Violent Person Commitments
Volitional impairment is central to the civil commitment of sexually violent persons (SVPs), yet little is known about how forensic professionals define and assess this construct. This study surveyed 29 experienced SVP evaluators (mean experience > 20 years) to examine their conceptualizations and assessment practices. Participants completed open-ended questions, rated 31 potential indicators on Likert-type scales, and evaluated two hypothetical …
Citation accuracy, misinformation, and harmless error in American Psychological Association amicus curiae briefs: Commentary on Marcus et al. (2025)
Based on a review of 16 recently submitted amicus curiae briefs by the American Psychological Association (APA) to the Supreme Court of the United States and other important courts, Marcus et al. (2025) strongly suggest that these briefs contain a significant number of inaccurate citations. They argue that these miscitations (a) misinform the court about important psychological findings, (b) could lead to significant injustice and harm, and (c) j…
Professional practice guidelines for operational psychology: An executive summary
Operational psychologists provide a variety of psychological services in support of national security, national defense, and public safety. Their work may include the assessment of personnel for high-risk positions, consultation to investigations and crisis negotiations, support to military or intelligence training and operations, or other types of psychological and behavioral assessments. The practice of operational psychology differs in importa…
Risk assessment of child-pornography-exclusive offenders
OBJECTIVES: A sizeable percentage of federally sentenced child pornography offenders have no history of other criminal offenses (hereinafter "child-pornography-exclusive offenders"). There is a critical legal need to assess the recidivism risk of this population. The Child Pornography Offender Risk Tool (CPORT) is a commonly used actuarial instrument developed specifically to assess the risk of recidivism among child pornography offenders. HYPOTH…
Changing the public’s crime control theater attitudes
The public’s perception of crime control theater laws: It’s complicated
Public’s views of risk assessment algorithms and pretrial decision making
Risk assessment algorithms are increasingly–and controversially–being used to inform whether criminal defendants are released or held in custody prior to their adjudications. A representative sample of Californians (n=420)–the most recent state to consider eliminating cash bail and adopting an algorithmic approach to pretrial detention–was used to assess public knowledge and general support for the new law. The sample evidenced limited awareness …
The effect of mortality salience on death penalty sentencing decisions when the defendant is severely mentally ill
Purpose Mortality is a salient factor during capital sentencing. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role death plays in jurors’ decisions when sentencing a severely mentally ill defendant who is subject to possible discrimination in a capital trial because of that status. Design/methodology/approach The current experiment measured venire jurors’ ( n =133) mental illness dangerousness beliefs, and then experimentally manipulated type of m…
Life without parole for juvenile offenders: Public sentiments
The United States Supreme Court recently abolished mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole (LWOP) for juvenile offenders, holding that the practice was inconsistent with the 8th amendment’s cruel and unusual punishment clause, and its “evolving standards of decency” jurisprudence. The Court explicitly left open the question of whether non-mandatory LWOP is consistent with these constitutional standards. This paper examines the …
Venire jurors’ perceptions of adversarial allegiance
The impact of case factors on jurors’ decisions in a sexual violent predator hearing
Twenty states, the District of Columbia, and the federal government allow for the postincarceration, indeterminate civil commitment of sexual violent predators (SVPs). Yet, although a large number of individuals has been committed under these laws, relatively little is known about how jurors make decisions in these proceedings. Using a sample of 274 jury-eligible participants and a trial transcript based on an actual SVP proceeding, we systematic…
Dangerously misunderstood: Representative jurors' reactions to expert testimony on future dangerousness in a sexually violent predator trial
Past research examining the effects of psychological expert testimony concerning future dangerousness in sexual violent predator commitment trials has produced equivocal results on whether mock jurors are more influenced by intuitive clinical expert testimony than empirically based actuarial testimony. This study advances this line of research by examining these effects using a more ecologically valid sample of 156 venire jurors who watched a sim…
Gold versus platinum: Do jurors recognize the superiority and limitations of DNA evidence compared to other types of forensic evidence
In a series of studies, the authors examined (a) public perceptions concerning forensic scientific evidence, (b) the relative influence attributed to DNA evidence compared to other forms of forensic identification evidence, and (c) the impact of cross-examination addressing the limitations of DNA testimony. In Studies 1 and 2, both undergraduate students and representative jurors rated DNA as the most accurate and persuasive type of evidence comp…
The effects of clinical and scientific expert testimony on juror decision making in capital sentencing
The effects of clinical and scientific expert testimony on juror decision making in capital sentencing
The Supreme Court and many state courts have assumed that jurors are capable of differentiating less accurate clinical opinion expert testimony from expert testimony based on more sound scientific footing and of appropriately weighing these two types of testimony in their decisions. Persuasion and jury decision-making research, however, both suggest that this assumption is dubious. The authors investigated whether mock jurors are more influenced …
Legal standards, expertise, and experts in the resolution of contested child custody cases
Legal standards, expertise, and experts in the resolution of contested child custody cases
The problem of "helpfulness" in applying Daubert to expert testimony: Child custody determinations in family law as an exemplar
The problem of "helpfulness" in applying Daubert to expert testimony: Child custody determinations in family law as an exemplar
Gold versus platinum: Do jurors recognize the superiority and limitations of DNA evidence compared to other types of forensic evidence
In a series of studies, the authors examined (a) public perceptions concerning forensic scientific evidence, (b) the relative influence attributed to DNA evidence compared to other forms of forensic identification evidence, and (c) the impact of cross-examination addressing the limitations of DNA testimony. In Studies 1 and 2, both undergraduate students and representative jurors rated DNA as the most accurate and persuasive type of evidence comp…
The effects of clinical and scientific expert testimony on juror decision making in capital sentencing
The Supreme Court and many state courts have assumed that jurors are capable of differentiating less accurate clinical opinion expert testimony from expert testimony based on more sound scientific footing and of appropriately weighing these two types of testimony in their decisions. Persuasion and jury decision-making research, however, both suggest that this assumption is dubious. The authors investigated whether mock jurors are more influenced …
Legal standards, expertise, and experts in the resolution of contested child custody cases
Public’s views of risk assessment algorithms and pretrial decision making
Risk assessment algorithms are increasingly–and controversially–being used to inform whether criminal defendants are released or held in custody prior to their adjudications. A representative sample of Californians (n=420)–the most recent state to consider eliminating cash bail and adopting an algorithmic approach to pretrial detention–was used to assess public knowledge and general support for the new law. The sample evidenced limited awareness …
Venire jurors’ perceptions of adversarial allegiance
Dangerously misunderstood: Representative jurors' reactions to expert testimony on future dangerousness in a sexually violent predator trial
Past research examining the effects of psychological expert testimony concerning future dangerousness in sexual violent predator commitment trials has produced equivocal results on whether mock jurors are more influenced by intuitive clinical expert testimony than empirically based actuarial testimony. This study advances this line of research by examining these effects using a more ecologically valid sample of 156 venire jurors who watched a sim…
The problem of "helpfulness" in applying Daubert to expert testimony: Child custody determinations in family law as an exemplar
The problem of "helpfulness" in applying Daubert to expert testimony: Child custody determinations in family law as an exemplar
The problem of "helpfulness" in applying Daubert to expert testimony: Child custody determinations in family law as an exemplar
Legal standards, expertise, and experts in the resolution of contested child custody cases
Legal standards, expertise, and experts in the resolution of contested child custody cases
The effects of clinical and scientific expert testimony on juror decision making in capital sentencing
The effects of clinical and scientific expert testimony on juror decision making in capital sentencing
The Supreme Court and many state courts have assumed that jurors are capable of differentiating less accurate clinical opinion expert testimony from expert testimony based on more sound scientific footing and of appropriately weighing these two types of testimony in their decisions. Persuasion and jury decision-making research, however, both suggest that this assumption is dubious. The authors investigated whether mock jurors are more influenced …
Gold versus platinum: Do jurors recognize the superiority and limitations of DNA evidence compared to other types of forensic evidence
In a series of studies, the authors examined (a) public perceptions concerning forensic scientific evidence, (b) the relative influence attributed to DNA evidence compared to other forms of forensic identification evidence, and (c) the impact of cross-examination addressing the limitations of DNA testimony. In Studies 1 and 2, both undergraduate students and representative jurors rated DNA as the most accurate and persuasive type of evidence comp…
Dangerously misunderstood: Representative jurors' reactions to expert testimony on future dangerousness in a sexually violent predator trial
Past research examining the effects of psychological expert testimony concerning future dangerousness in sexual violent predator commitment trials has produced equivocal results on whether mock jurors are more influenced by intuitive clinical expert testimony than empirically based actuarial testimony. This study advances this line of research by examining these effects using a more ecologically valid sample of 156 venire jurors who watched a sim…
The impact of case factors on jurors’ decisions in a sexual violent predator hearing
Twenty states, the District of Columbia, and the federal government allow for the postincarceration, indeterminate civil commitment of sexual violent predators (SVPs). Yet, although a large number of individuals has been committed under these laws, relatively little is known about how jurors make decisions in these proceedings. Using a sample of 274 jury-eligible participants and a trial transcript based on an actual SVP proceeding, we systematic…
Venire jurors’ perceptions of adversarial allegiance
The effect of mortality salience on death penalty sentencing decisions when the defendant is severely mentally ill
Purpose Mortality is a salient factor during capital sentencing. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role death plays in jurors’ decisions when sentencing a severely mentally ill defendant who is subject to possible discrimination in a capital trial because of that status. Design/methodology/approach The current experiment measured venire jurors’ ( n =133) mental illness dangerousness beliefs, and then experimentally manipulated type of m…
Life without parole for juvenile offenders: Public sentiments
The United States Supreme Court recently abolished mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole (LWOP) for juvenile offenders, holding that the practice was inconsistent with the 8th amendment’s cruel and unusual punishment clause, and its “evolving standards of decency” jurisprudence. The Court explicitly left open the question of whether non-mandatory LWOP is consistent with these constitutional standards. This paper examines the …
Public’s views of risk assessment algorithms and pretrial decision making
Risk assessment algorithms are increasingly–and controversially–being used to inform whether criminal defendants are released or held in custody prior to their adjudications. A representative sample of Californians (n=420)–the most recent state to consider eliminating cash bail and adopting an algorithmic approach to pretrial detention–was used to assess public knowledge and general support for the new law. The sample evidenced limited awareness …
The public’s perception of crime control theater laws: It’s complicated
Changing the public’s crime control theater attitudes
Risk assessment of child-pornography-exclusive offenders
OBJECTIVES: A sizeable percentage of federally sentenced child pornography offenders have no history of other criminal offenses (hereinafter "child-pornography-exclusive offenders"). There is a critical legal need to assess the recidivism risk of this population. The Child Pornography Offender Risk Tool (CPORT) is a commonly used actuarial instrument developed specifically to assess the risk of recidivism among child pornography offenders. HYPOTH…
Citation accuracy, misinformation, and harmless error in American Psychological Association amicus curiae briefs: Commentary on Marcus et al. (2025)
Based on a review of 16 recently submitted amicus curiae briefs by the American Psychological Association (APA) to the Supreme Court of the United States and other important courts, Marcus et al. (2025) strongly suggest that these briefs contain a significant number of inaccurate citations. They argue that these miscitations (a) misinform the court about important psychological findings, (b) could lead to significant injustice and harm, and (c) j…
Professional practice guidelines for operational psychology: An executive summary
Operational psychologists provide a variety of psychological services in support of national security, national defense, and public safety. Their work may include the assessment of personnel for high-risk positions, consultation to investigations and crisis negotiations, support to military or intelligence training and operations, or other types of psychological and behavioral assessments. The practice of operational psychology differs in importa…
Unraveling Volitional Impairment: Forensic Psychological Perspectives on Volitional Impairment in Sexually Violent Person Commitments
Volitional impairment is central to the civil commitment of sexually violent persons (SVPs), yet little is known about how forensic professionals define and assess this construct. This study surveyed 29 experienced SVP evaluators (mean experience > 20 years) to examine their conceptualizations and assessment practices. Participants completed open-ended questions, rated 31 potential indicators on Likert-type scales, and evaluated two hypothetical …
Psychology (15 works) · Political science (12 works) · Criminology (9 works) · Law (7 works) · Law (6 works) · Social Psychology (6 works) · Computer Science (5 works) · Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending (5 works) · Social Psychology (5 works) · Biology (4 works)