Gerald Ginsburg, Ph.D.

* Professor Emeritus, Psychology Ph.D., Social Psychology, University of Michigan B.S., Univ of Illinois

Interests:

Social Psychophysiology: In our Social Psychophysiology Laboratory we study social and emotional processes, using electrophysiological and video measures. We are especially interested in autonomic nervous system processes and facial and other bodily displays as they occur in emotional interchanges.

Emotion: We are actively developing a model of emotion that treats emotional reactions as aspects of situated episodes and not as internal states that bubble over into expressions. Cultural, literary, communicative and developmental factors play important roles, along with physiological processes. Our laboratory and observational research is guided by this fundamentally biosocial view, which is compatible with and influenced by contemporary work in behavioral ecology.

Science and the Law: The rapid changes and advances in a variety of technologies have given expert witnesses in civil and criminal trials considerable importance, but their testimony and their qualifications have come increasingly into question. Recent Supreme Court decisions have brought a number of issues about expert testimony to the fore, including the issue of what qualifies as a science. Our work in this area includes investigating the emergence of new types of evidence and their acceptance as scientific by courts, and the spread of such novel evidence to the legal systems of other countries. In this work I collaborate with J. Richardson, S. Dobbin and S. Gatowski.

Recent and Current Publications (selected examples):

Social Psychophysiology and Emotion:

Hartley, T.R., Ginsburg, G.P., and Heffner, K. (1999). Self-presentation and cardiovascular reactivity. International Journal of Psycholphysiology, 32 (1), 75-88.

Ginsburg, G.P. (1997). Faces: An Epilogue and Reconceptualization. In J. Russell and J. Fernandez-Dols (Eds.), New Directions in the Study of Facial Expressions.New York: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 349-382.

Ginsburg, G. P., and Harrington, M. (1996). Bodily states and context in situated lines of action. In R. Harré & J Parrott (Eds.), Emotions: The Embodiment of Social Control.London: Sage. Pp. 229-258.

Social Psychology and Law:

Richardson, J.T., & Ginsburg, G.P. (1998). "Brainwashing" evidence in light of Daubert: Science and unpopular religions. Current Legal Issues,265-288.

Gatowski, S.I., Dobbin, S.A., Richardson, J.T., & Ginsburg, G.P. (1997). Globalization of behavioral science evidence about battered women: A theory of production and diffusion. Behavioral Sciences and Law,15, 273.

Richardson, J. T., Ginsburg, G. P., Gatowski, S., & Dobbin, S. (1995). The problems of applying Daubert to psychological syndrome evidence. Judicature, Vol. 79 (July-August), 1-9.

Contact Info:

You can e-mail Dr. Ginsburg at gpg@.unr.edu