Crime topic 4 Flashcards
What was the background of Dixon’s study?
Previous research has shown that the way people speak can influence other’s perceptions of them.
Seggi (1983) found that people who spoke with a RP (standard) accent were more likely to be judged guilty for theft
Dixon wanted to investigate the birmingham accent as this has generally negative perceptions from others
What were the aims of Dixon’s study?
to test if a Brummie accented suspect would recieve a higher rating of guilt than a standard accent.
To see if race or type of crime would make any difference to the Brummie or standard accents guilt rate
What was the sample of Dixon’s study?
119 white undergraduate students from Uni of Worchester took part as required by their cause - participants who grew up in Birmingham were excluded
What was the procedure of Dixon’s study?
Listened to a 2 minute recorded conversation of a police officer interrogating a suspect - the type of crime the man was convicted of varied between blue collar crimes and white collar crimes. The description of the suspect as read out by the police officer decribed the participant as either white or black.
What were the results of Dixon’s study?
participants rated the conversation with the Brummie suspect significantly more guilty than the standard accent
There was an interaction between the variables with the black brummie accented, blue collar crime bein rated significantly more guilty than the other 5 conditions
What was the conclusion of Dixon’s study?
It supports the idea that some accents sound guiltier than other accents
However, he points out that in the real world juries are given more info and context the Participants were given in this study
What was the aim of Sigall and Ostrove’s study?
to see whether the effect of attractiveness of the defendant on the jury’s decision depends on the type of crime they are on trial for
What was the sample of Sigall and Ostrove’s study?
120 college students (60 male, 60 female)
What was the procedure of Sigall and Ostrove’s study?
Participants read an account of one of two crimes with a female defendant
What was the IV of Sigall and Ostrove’s study?
Type of crime - Burglary or swindling
Description of female - attractive or unattractive (control group given no information about her appearance
What was the DV of Sigall and Ostrove’s study?
How many years in prison they would recommend as a punishment
What were the results of Sigall and Ostrove’s study?
in a crime where the defendants beauty is not relevant i.e. burglary, she was treated more leniently by the mock jurors
However, if she was thought to have used her beauty in her crime i.e. swindling then she was treated more harshly
The longest mean sentence was given in the attentiveness/swindling condition and the shortest sentence in the attractive/burglary
What was the conclusions of Sigall and Ostrove’s study?
a cognitive explanation of the effect of attractiveness on the jorer’s decision
Attractive people who misuse their beauty are perceived as beautiful but dangerous
What was the aim of Penrod and cutler’s study?
To investigate the effect of witness confidence on the decision made by a jury
What were the results of Penrod and Cutler’s study?
a significant difference was shown - 60% guilty verdicts given in the 80% condition, 67% guilty verdicts given in the 100% condition
