Crime: Psychology and the Courtroom

Question 1

What is stereotyping?

Answer 1

The process of using one piece of information about someone to make assumptions about other characteristics they might have

Question 2

What are some examples of characteristics of a defendant or witness that may influence a jury?

Answer 2

Appearance, attractiveness, dress, age, race, and accent

Question 3

Give an overview of Stewart’s research into the influence of a defendant’s attractiveness.

Answer 3

• Looked at real trials from the public gallery
• Defendants were mostly male, of all ages, and a mix of races
• 8 observers given a standard rating form including: physical attractiveness, neatness, cleanliness, quality of dress, and posture
• High inter-rater reliability
• Less attractive, harsher the punishment

Question 4

What is the Halo Effect?

Answer 4

Making the assumption that if a person displays one good characteristic, then they will have other positive characteristics

Question 5

What did research into the confidence of witnesses show (Penrod and Cutler)?

Answer 5

• Mock trial
• Evidence from a female eye witness of a robbery with video tape recording
• When confidence went from 100% to 80%, guilty verdicts were given 7% less of the time
• Confidence associated with truthfulness

Question 6

What is Blue Collar Crime?

Answer 6

Acts that are considered the result of emotional outburst such as burglary, theft, and assault

Question 7

What is White Collar Crime?

Answer 7

Crimes committed in a business setting and are generally non violent eg. fraud and forgery

Question 8

What are the strengths of a Mock trial?

Answer 8

• Ethical
• Practical
• High standardised and easily replicated
• Findings can help improve the judicial system

Question 9

What are the weaknesses of a mock trial?

Answer 9

• Evidence received as a recording which is not how it would be if the person was on a jury
• Shorter than real trials
• Tend to be made up of University students
• No extreme consequences of a decision
• Mock trials have jurors make decisions on their own which is not like real life

Question 10

What was the aim of Dixon’s research?

Answer 10

To investigate the influence of an English regional accent on attributions of guilt

Question 11

What was the hypothesis of Dixon’s research?

Answer 11

That a Brummie suspect would elicit stronger attributions of guilt that a RP accent would

Question 12

What is RP accent?

Answer 12

Received pronunciation - ‘typically British’

Question 13

What was the sample of Dixon’s research?

Answer 13

• 119 white undergraduate psychology students from the University of Worcester (England)
• More females
• Participants who grew up in Birmingham were excluded

Question 14

What was the research method of Dixon’s research?

Answer 14

Lab Experiment

Question 15

What were the IVs of Dixon’s research?

Answer 15

• Accent (Birmingham/RP)
• Race (Black/white)
• Type of crime (Blue collar: armed robbery/white collar: fraud)

Question 16

What was the DV of Dixon’s research?

Answer 16

Participants’ attribution of guilt and a Speech Evaluation Instrument (SEI)

Question 17

What was the procedure of Dixon’s research?

Answer 17

• 2 minute recorded transcript
• Middle aged police inspector and a young male suspect
• Guilt was measured from innocent to guilty on a 7 point rating scale
• Speech Evaluation Instrument measured superiority, attractiveness, and dynamism

Question 18

What were the key findings from Dixon’s research?

Answer 18

• Brummie accent rated as more guilty compared to RP - significant at p<0.05
• Black participants NOT rated significantly more guilty than white
• Blue collar crimes NOT rated significantly more guilty than white collar
• Brummie accent, black, and blue collar together were the most guilty
• Brummie suspect rated lower on superiority on the speech evaluation instrument
• Superiority and attractiveness predicted guilty, but dynamism did NOT

Question 19

What main conclusion can be drawn from Dixon’s research?

Answer 19

A range of social psychological factors can influence perception of a suspect’s guilt including accent, race, and type of crime

Question 20

How can physical appearance of a defendant be a practical application?

Answer 20

• Asking them to dress formally, cover tattoos with clothes, and be neatly presented could alter a jury’s verdict
• Could hide physical appearance with a screen

Question 21

How can eye witness testimonies be a practical application?

Answer 21

• Penrod and Cutler showed that witness confidence is a key factor
• Lawyers could familiarise witnesses with the court setting, explain the proceedings, and do a practice questioning

Question 22

How could order of evidence be a practical application?

Answer 22

• Witness order is presenting the more important evidence first to get the jury’s attention
• Story order is where evidence is given in event order and is more convincing for a jury
• This could be because it allows them to create their own narrative

Question 23

How could expert witnesses be a practical application?

Answer 23

• Loftus found that expert testimonies promoted more discussion and appeared to increase doubt of the defendant’s guilt
• Expert witness can be used such as a psychologist to teach jurors how to spot a good and bad witness