image

Mission

The Center for Law, Brain & Behavior puts the most accurate and actionable neuroscience in the hands of judges, lawyers, policymakers and journalists—people who shape the standards and practices of our legal system and affect its impact on people’s lives. We work to make the legal system more effective and more just for all those affected by the law.

cushman 150x150 Fiery Cushman, PhD is Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, where he directs the Moral Psychology Research Laboratory. His research investigates the cognitive mechanisms responsible for human moral judgment, along with their development, evolutionary history and neural basis. His work often draws from classic philosophical dilemmas, and has focused in particular on the psychology of punishment and the aversion to harmful action. He received his BA and PhD from Harvard University, where he also completed a post-doctoral fellowship. He served as Assistant Professor of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences at Brown University from 2011 to 2014.

On joining the Faculty of the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior, Dr. Cushman writes:

“The Center for Law, Brain and Behavior is an ideal intellectual community for me. My research aims to explain how people act morally, and how they judge others who fail to. CLBB provides a natural conduit for communication with a wide array of researchers working on related topics, from the neural basis of antisocial behavior, to the development of self-control, to the architecture of choice and decision-making. It also provides an opportunity to think broadly about the application of my research to policy and legal settings, and an instant platform to build those thoughts into action.”

< Back to All Faculty