137 Holmes Hall
Office Phone: (585) 395-2685
E-mail: jratclif@brockport.edu

Education

2007-2008

2001-2007

1998-2001 

JFK School of Government
Harvard University
Postdoctoral Training

Ohio University Ph.D., Experimental Social Psychology, August 2007
            Concentration: Quantitative methods

M.S., Experimental Social Psychology, 2004
University of Dayton
M.S., Community Counseling, 2001

Social Perception; Stereotyping and Prejudice; Positive Intergroup Relations; and Discriminatory Practices in the Legal System

Research Descriptions:

Dr. Ratcliff’s primary research program focuses on understanding the processes by which individuals develop and maintain both positive and negative attitudes toward marginalized outgroups. To this end, her research explores two antecedents for outgroup liking and prejudice: (a) cultural displays exhibited by the group in question, (e.g., pride displays), and (b) socio-cultural norms (e.g., expectations regarding how men and women should behave in a given society). Her work in this area additionally elucidates the distinct implications of outgroup liking and prejudice for behavior toward marginalized groups. This work has been applied to understanding how to bring about positive relations between marginalized groups and majority groups in America (e.g., gay men and heterosexual individuals; Caucasian Americans and African Americans), as well as in Israel (e.g., Arab Israelis and Jewish Israelis).

In her second line of research, Dr. Ratcliff explores the influence of perceptual factors on social judgment. More precisely, she examines the impact of perceptual constraints—such as the relative salience of one actor over another during an ongoing interaction—on the way people interpret and ultimately evaluate videotaped criminal confessions.

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Lassiter, G.D., Ware, L.J., Ratcliff, J.J., Irvin, C.R. (2009). Evidence of the camera perspective bias in authentic videotaped interrogations: Implications for emerging reform in the criminal justice system. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 14, 157-170.

Ratcliff, J.J., & Lassiter, G.D. (2007). On the induction and consequences of variation in behavior perception. Current Psychology: Developmental, Learning, Personality, Social. 26, 16-36.

Markman, K.D., Elizaga, R.A., Ratcliff, J.J., & McMullen, M.N. (2007). The interplay between counterfactual reasoning and feedback dynamics in producing inferences about the self. Thinking and Reasoning, 13, 188-206.

Lassiter, G.D., Ratcliff, J.J., Ware, L.J., & Irvin, C.R. (2006). Videotaped confessions: Panacea or Pandora’s Box? Law and Policy, 28, 192-210.

Ratcliff, J.J., Lassiter, G.D., Markman, K.D., & Snyder, C.J. (2006). Gender differences in attitudes toward gay men and lesbians: The role of motivation to respond without prejudice. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 1325-1338.

Ratcliff, J.J., Lassiter, G.D., Schmidt, H.C., & Snyder, C.J. (2006). Camera perspective bias in videotaped confessions: Experimental evidence of its perceptual basis. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 12, 197-206.

BOOK CHAPTERS & OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Lassiter, G. D., Lindberg, M. J., Ratcliff, J. J., & Ware, L. J. (in press) Top-down influences on event perception. In E. Balcetis & G. D. Lassiter (Eds.), Top-down influences on visual perception. New York: Psychology Press.

Lassiter, G. D., Ware, L. J., & Lindberg, M. J., & Ratcliff, J. J. (in press). Videotaping police interrogations: Dos and don’ts. In G. D. Lassiter & C A. Meissner (Eds.), Interrogations and confessions: Current research, practice, and policy. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Pittinsky, T. L., Ratcliff, J. J., & Maruskin, L. A. (2008). Coexistence in Israel: A National Study. Center for Public Leadership, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Rosenthal, S. A., Pittinsky, T. L., Moore, S., Ratcliff, J. J., Maruskin, L. A., & Gravelin, C. R.* (2008). National Leadership Index 2008: A National Study of Confidence in Leadership. Center for Public Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Lassiter, G.D., Ratcliff, J.J., Lindberg, M.J. (2007). Sunk cost. In R. Baumeister & K. Vohs (Eds.), Encyclopedia of social psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Lassiter, G.D., Ware, L.J., & Ratcliff, J.J. (2007). Videotaping confessions. In B. L. Cutler (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law. (Vol.2, pp. 844-847). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc.

Markman, K.D., Ratcliff, J.J., Mizoguchi, N., McMullen, M.N., & Elizaga, R.A. (2007). Assimilation and contrast in counterfactual thinking and other mental simulation-based comparisons. In D.A. Stapel & J. Suls (Eds.), Assimilation and contrast in social psychology (pp. 314-347). Psychology Press.

Lassiter, G.D., & Ratcliff, J.J. (2004). Exposing coercive influences in the criminal justice system:  An agenda for legal psychology in the 21st century.  In G.D. Lassiter (Ed.), Interrogations, Confessions, and Entrapment. New York: Kluwer Academic/ Plenum Press.

Awards:

2009

2005-2007

2001-2005

Gravelin, C.* & Ratcliff, J.J. (2009) “The impact of power on the perception of minorities. Psi Chi Undergraduate Research Award for Summer Research ($5,000.00).

Research Fellowship, NSF (SES-0453302), Ohio University
University Doctoral Fellowship, Ohio University

Moates Fellowship, Ohio University

• Social Psychology
• Research Methods
• Advanced Personality and Social Psychology
• Principles of Psychology