application: influence jury decisions

Question 1

What are the four applications?

Answer 1

1- impression management
2- increase witness confidence
3- order of presentation
4- expert witness

Question 2

What is impression management?

Answer 2

• how defendants and witnesess dress / present themselves
• dress formally for court
• neatly groomed no visible tattoos

Question 3

what study does impression management link to?

Answer 3

Castello + Sigal and Ostrove - attractiveness influencing jurys - halo effect

Question 4

what is increasing witness confidence?

Answer 4

• increase confidence using witness familiarisation techniques
• avoid ‘coaching’ witnesses
• help to reduce nerves - explain what will happen in court
• mock trials

Question 5

what study does increasing witness confidence link to?

Answer 5

Penrod and Cutler
- 80% = confidence = less guilty verdict compared to 100%

Question 6

what is order of presentation?

Answer 6

• story order vs witness order
• story order = constructing a timeline
• witness order = individual witnesses one at a time (no order/ timeline)
• story order = most effective when opposition using witness order
• narrative model of thinking

Question 7

what study does order of presentation link to?

Answer 7

Pennington and Hastie
- 78% guilty verdict when prosecution use story order and defence witness
- 31% guilty verdict when defence use story order and prosecution witness

Question 8

what is expert witness?

Answer 8

when an expert (who did not witness the crime) provides their professional opinion on parts of the case e.g., forensic scientists (fingerprints) or a social psychologist (authority figures)

Question 9

what study does expert witness link to?

Answer 9

Loftus
- expert testimony prompted more discussion increasing doubt of guilt of the defendant