About the group
In addition to research articles and books, the group’s members are very active in disseminating legal psychology including in courtrooms and in the media more generally. We hold research seminars where external speakers over recent years include Timothy Luke (Gothenburg), Liam Satchell (Winchester), Thom Arne Hellerslia (Supreme Court of Norway), Nael Sumampouw (Maastricht & Jakarta), Eivind Kolflaath (Bergen), Ines Blix (NKVTS), Nina Sunde (Police College, Oslo).
The most recent research seminars:
Margrete Malmgård: "Dommeres uttalelser i juridisk litteratur som inhabilitetsgrunn – Høyesterett åpner døren for psykologisk forskning"
Emilie Sogn Falch: «Mitt syn på saken» - En undersøkelse av kognisjonspsykologiske mekanismer i dommeratferd ved hjelp av maskinlæring»
Ragnhild Klingenberg, OsloMet, PhD in AI and child interviewing
Simen Sætre, author of Den usannsynlige seriemorderen Arnfinn Nesset og hans 31 tilståelser. Cappelen Damm. ISBN 978-82-023-7178-4.
Lee Curley, Glasgow Caledonian University, Legal decision-making in rape trials: What biases verdict-making
Future seminars:
Jon Petter Rui, professor, Universitetet i Bergen
Dissemination
Brennen, Tim & Rustad, Eira (2026). Castles in the Sky? Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging as a forensic lie detector. Lies and Allies, international online seminar, May 2026
Brennen, Tim. Applying legal psychology. Seminar to the Institute of Sociology and Psychology, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, October 2025
Stridbeck, Ulf (2024). The Swedish Thomas Quick cases. European Association of Psychology and Law, 2024 Annual Conference, Caparica, Portugal
Stridbeck, Ulf (2023). The Norwegian Baneheia Case. European Association of Psychology and Law, 2023 Annual Conference, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Brennen, Tim & Magnussen, Svein (2023). Lie detection: What works? Lies and Allies, international online seminar, November 2023
Brennen, Tim & Magnussen, Svein (2023). Here’s the truth about how to spot when someone is lying | Psyche Ideas
Magnussen, Svein & Stridbeck, Ulf (2020) Alt du vet om løgner er feil. Morgenbladet, July 2020
Tim Brennen, November 2023, Interview in TV series about an unsolved murder, "Tina – Jakten på en drapsmann"
Lectures on legal psychology to (amongst others) Troms & Finnmark judges (October 2023), Norwegian Bar Association defence lawyer group (October 2022), Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority (August 2022), Trøndelag Prosecution Authority (March 2022)
Svein Magnussen, Vitnepsykologi: utfordringer anno 2023. Lecture to the Sør-Rogaland branch of the Norwegian Law Society, 20 september, 2023.
Svein Magnussen, Vitnepsykologi. Hvor pålitelige er troverdige vitner -- og hvor sikre er våre vurderinger av troverdighet? KRIPOS, national detective conference, 16 september 2020.
Publications since 2020
2026
Brennen, T., Blandhol, S., & Magnussen, S. (in press). Witnesses and their testimony: A model of credibility, reliability and the factual truth. Psychology, Public Policy and Law
Brennen, T. & Magnussen, S. (in press). Hukommelse i et rettspsykologisk perspektiv – en oppsummering av kunnskap og anbefalinger anno 2025. Tidsskrift for strafferett
Rustad, E. & Brennen, T. (2026). Castles in the Sky? Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging as a forensic lie detector. Applied Cognitive Psychology, e70176. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1076
2025
Magnussen, S. (2025). Vitnepsykologi 3.0. Abstrakt forlag
Stridbeck, U. (2025). Rettspsykologi - et vern mot feiltagelser. Riksadvokat Kjerschows artikler i Aftenposten 1926. Lov og Rett, 64, s. 314–333.
Magnussen, S. & Stridbeck, U. (2025). Vurdering av troverdighet som rettslig bevis: En vitnepsykologisk kommentar til Høyesteretts dom 2025-458-A. Tidsskrift for strafferett, 25, 289–297.
Brennen, T. & Blandhol, S. (2025). Rettspsykologi (Legal psychology). Cappelen Damm.
Brennen, T. & Blandhol, S. (2025). Vitner og deres forklaringer: Troverdighet, pålitelighet og korrekthet. Lov og Rett, 64, 425-439. https://doi.org/10.18261/lor.64.6.5
2024
Stridbeck, U. (2024). Å komme fram til den hele og fulle sannhet. Tidsskrift for strafferett, s. 221–237. doi: 10.18261/strafferett.24.3.2.
Brennen, T. & Magnussen, S. (2024). The perils of methods that detect lies 70% of the time: A reply to Ben-Shakhar and Verschuere (2024). Legal and Criminological Psychology, 29, 128–131. https://doi.org/10.1111/lcrp.12266
2023
Brennen, Tim & Magnussen, Svein (2023). Lie Detection: What Works? Current Directions in Psychological Science. ISSN 0963-7214. 32, p. 395–401. doi: 10.1177/09637214231173095.
Magnussen, Svein & Teigen, Karl Halvor (2023). Hvorfor tror retten på kriminelle informanter? Lov og Rett. ISSN 0024-6980. 62(1), p. 37–48. doi: 10.18261/lor.62.1.4.
S. Johnson, Miriam; Magnussen, Svein; Anders, Foyn Asmyhr; Johanna, Hansen Helgeland; Marie, Pilgaard Jonassen & Emil, Lundal [Show all 12 contributors for this article] (2023). Doctored photographs create false memories of spectacular childhood events. a replication of Wade et al. (2002) with a Scandinavian twist. Memory. ISSN 0965-8211. doi: 10.1080/09658211.2023.2200595.
Stridbeck, Ulf Johan (2023). Compensation for wrongful convictions in Norway. I Jasinski, Wojciech & Kremens, Karolina (Red.), Compensation for Wrongful Convictions. A Comparative Perspective. Routledge. ISSN 978-1-032-13474-1. s. 105–116. doi: 10.4324/9781003229414-7.
Stridbeck, Ulf Johan & Brennen, Tim (2023). Miscarriages of justice in Norway. In Robins, Jon (Eds.), Murder, Wrongful Conviction and the Law. An International Comparative Analysis. Routledge. ISSN 978-1-003-251-484. doi: 10.4324/9781003251484-5.
2022
Brennen, Tim & Magnussen, Svein (2022). The Science of Lie Detection by Verbal Cues: What Are the Prospects for Its Practical Applicability? Frontiers in Psychology, 13. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.835285.
Brennen, Tim & Magnussen, Svein (2022). Memory. In Tierney, Robert J.; Rizvi, Fazal & Erkican, Kadriye (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Education (4th Edition). Elsevier. ISSN 978-0-12-818629-9. p. 219–228. doi: https:/dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818630-5.14017-5.
2021
Baugerud, Gunn Astrid; Sinkerud Johnson, Miriam; Hansen, Helle Birgitte; Magnussen, Svein J & Lamb, Michael E. (2021). Portraits in straw: A reply to Melinder et al. (2020). Applied Cognitive Psychology. ISSN 0888-4080. 35(2), s. 570–573. doi: 10.1002/acp.3791.
Bjørndal, Ludvig Daae; Brennen, Tim & Magnussen, Svein (2021). Norske dommeres kunnskap om påliteligheten av øyevitneforklaringer – 12 år senere. Lov og Rett. ISSN 0024-6980. 60, p. 521–532. doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-3061-2021-09-03.
Brennen, Tim; Blix, Ines; Nissen, Alexander; Holmes, Emily A.; Skumlien, Martine & Solberg, Øivind (2021). Investigating the frequency of intrusive memories after 24 hours using a visuospatial interference intervention: a follow-up and extension. European Journal of Psychotraumatology. ISSN 2000-8066. 12(1), p. 1–12. doi: 10.1080/20008198.2021.1953788.
Sumampouw, Nathanael; Bjørndal, Ludvig Daae; Magnussen, Svein; Otgaar, Henry & Brennen, Tim (2021). Knowledge about eyewitness testimony: a survey of Indonesian police officers and psychologists. Psychology, Crime and Law. ISSN 1068-316X. 28, p. 763–777. doi: 10.1080/1068316X.2021.1962868.
2020
Baugerud, Gunn Astrid; Hansen, Helle Birgitte; S. Johnson, Miriam; Magnussen, Svein & Lamb, Michael E. (2020). Forensic interviews with preschool children: An analysis of extended interviews in Norway (2015-2017). Applied Cognitive Psychology. ISSN 0888-4080. 34(3), p. 654–663. doi: 10.1002/acp.3647.
Bjørndal, Ludvig Daae; McGill, Lucy; Magnussen, Svein J; Richardson, Stéphanie; Saraiva, Renan & Stadel, Marie [Show all 7 contributors for this article] (2020). Norwegian judges' knowledge of factors affecting eyewitness testimony: A 12-year follow-up. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. ISSN 1321-8719. 28(5), p. 665–682. doi: 10.1080/13218719.2020.1837028.
Brennen, Tim & Magnussen, Svein (2020). Research on non-verbal signs of lies and deceit: A blind alley. Frontiers in Psychology. ISSN 1664-1078. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.613410.
Brøste, Inger-Lise; Magnussen, Svein; Melinder, Annika Maria D & Rachlew, Asbjørn (2020). Forskning i etterforskning: Politiets kvalitetssikring av vitnekonfrontasjonene i lommemannsaken. Tidsskrift for strafferett. ISSN 1502-685X. 20(2), p. 146–155. doi: 10.18261/ISSN.0809-9537-2020-02-02.
Magnussen, Svein (2020). Er sikre vitner pålitelige vitner? Lov og Rett. ISSN 0024-6980. 59(5), p. 312–321.
Melinder, Annika Maria D; Brennen, Timothy John; Husby, Mikael Falkhaugen & Vassend, Olav (2020). Personality, confirmation bias, and forensic interviewing performance. Applied Cognitive Psychology. ISSN 0888-4080. doi: 10.1002/acp.3674.
Rachlew, Asbjørn; Brøste, Inger-Lise; Melinder, Annika Maria D & Magnussen, Svein (2020). Recruiting Eyewitness Science in Criminal Investigations: The Pocket Man Case. Journal of Forensic Psychology Research and Practice. ISSN 2473-2850. 20(3), p. 205–213. doi: 10.1080/24732850.2020.1714407.
Magnussen, Svein & Stridbeck, Ulf (2020). Vurdering av troverdighet: hva sier forskningen anno 2020? Tidsskrift for strafferett. ISSN 1502-685X. 20(1), p. 6–17. doi: 10.18261/ISSN.0809-9537-2020-01-02.
Magnussen, Svein & Teigen, Karl Halvor (2020). Kognitive snarveier og slagsider i vurdering av bevis. Lov og Rett. ISSN 0024-6980. 59(1), p. 19–42. doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-3061-2020-01-03.
Stridbeck, Ulf (2020). Coerced-Reactive Confessions: The Case of Thomas Quick. Journal of Forensic Psychology Research and Practice. ISSN 2473-2850. 20(4), s. 305–322. doi: 10.1080/24732850.2020.1732758.
