Talley Bettens

Graduate Research Assistant

Adolescent legal decision-making; Interrogations; Guilty Pleas; Miscarriages of Justice

Talley Bettens is a sixth-year Ph.D. Candidate in the Modeling Decision-Making in the Legal System (MoDiLS) Lab with Dr. Allison Redlich, and a National Institute of Justice Graduate Research Fellow. Talley received her M.S. in Psychological Science from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a focus on research at the intersection of psychology and law. She received her B.S. from Central Michigan University, where she studied Psychology and Sociology. Her research centers on legal decision-making in the context of interrogations and guilty pleas, with a particular focus on juvenile populations, in addition to miscarriages of justice.

Selected Publications

Bettens, T., & Cleary, H. D. (2026). Defense attorney perspectives about juvenile interrogations: SROs, parents, and the adolescent defendant. Psychology, Crime & Law, 32(5), 748-774. https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2024.2391971

Bettens, T. (2024). The risks and consequences of innocence in school discipline: Implications for policy and research. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 30(3), 260-272. https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000423

Bettens, T., Cleary, H. D., & Bull, R. (2024). Humane interrogation strategies are associated with confessions, cooperation, and disclosure: Evidence from a field study of U.S. suspects. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 51(6), 949-969. https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548241232068

Bettens, T., & Redlich, A. D. (2024). The effects of confessions on misconduct and guilty pleas in exonerations: Implications for discovery policies. Criminology & Public Policy, 23(1), 179-199. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12643

Bettens, T., Warren, A. R., & Pica, E. (2024). Stigma or support? How gender, race, and intersectionality impact perceptions of exonerees. Women & Criminal Justice. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/08974454.2024.2386654

Bettens, T., & Normile, C. (2023). Concerns and recommendations regarding the training of school administrators in interrogating students. Psychology, Crime & Law, 30(10), 1358-1377. https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2023.2196424

Bettens, T., & Warren, A. R. (2023). Juveniles and adults differ in their beliefs about cues to deception and strategies during a hypothetical police interview. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 37(1), 96-110. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.4030

Expanded Publication List

Redlich, A. D., Quas, J., & Bettens, T. The ultimate legal fiction: Knowing and intelligent guilty pleas. (accepted). Federal Sentencing Reporter.

Scherr, K. C., Bettens, T., Catlin, M., Redlich, A. D., & Arredondo Cruz, J. (2026). Employment discrimination faced by people wrongly convicted: Evidence from a national correspondence audit experiment. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 32(2), 187-201. https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000481

Bettens, T., Redlich, A. D., & Helm, R. K. (2026). Legal procedures: Protecting children or exacerbating vulnerabilities? L. C. Malloy, R. K. Helm, & T. M. Zottoli (Eds.), Confessions and Guilty Pleas of Youth: Developmental Science and Practical Implications (pp. 222-233). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000495-018

Catlin, M., Wilson, D. B., Redlich, A. D., Bettens, T., Meissner, C. A., Bhatt, S., & Brandon, S. (2024). Interview and interrogation methods and their effects on true and false confessions: An update and extension. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 20(4), e1441. https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1441

Catlin, M., Bettens, T., Scherr, K. C., & Redlich, A. D. (2024). Lived experiences of bias in compensation and reintegration associated with false admissions of guilt. Law and Human Behavior, 48(5-6), 486-502. https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000588

Redlich, A. D., Catlin, M., & Bettens, T. (2024). Intent-to-treat in the “cheating” paradigm: A meta-analysis. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 20, 665-681. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-023-09555-z

DiFava, R. J., Bettens, T., Wilford, M. M., & Redlich, A. D. (2024). Confession evidence results in more true and false guilty pleas than eyewitness evidence. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 20, 1253-1267. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-023-09577-7

Grants and Fellowships

National Institute of Justice, Graduate Research Fellowship to support Dissertation ($120,741). Schoolhouse Interrogations and Confessions: Perspectives from Principals and Students. Principal investigator.