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Psychology 5: Criminal > jury decision making: pre trial publicity > Flashcards

jury decision making: pre trial publicity Flashcards

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1
Q

what is a jury?

A
  • group of 12 people
  • randomly selected from the electual register
  • aged 18-75
  • consider evidence presented during a trial and decide if the defendant is guilty or not guilty
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2
Q

why would a juror be disqualified?

A
  • on probation
  • imprisoned
  • sentenced to community service
  • on bail
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3
Q

describe the process of the jury during a trial

A
  • defence and prosecution present argument to jury
  • jurors oath: swear on a holy book or affirm
  • tell usher if they have connections to anyone present
  • closing speeches
  • judge summarises
  • discussion
  • clerk asks foreperson to deliver verdict
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4
Q

what is a mock jury?

A
  • group of ppts made to consider a case and make judgements about it
  • staged trial
  • researchers may observe through 1 way mirror
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5
Q

what are some strengths of using a mock jury?

A
  • standardised procedures
  • 1 way mirror reduces DCs
  • application to improve real life juries
  • random selection
  • controlled environment
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6
Q

what are some weaknesses of using a mock jury?

A
  • lacks mundane realism
  • shortened, in real life it could take weeks and are more complex
  • mock jurors may not act the same as a real jury
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7
Q

what is a shadow jury?

A
  • group of people hired by a trial consultant to watch trials and report impressions of evidence
  • asked to make a verdict
  • but no influence over real trial
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8
Q

what are some strengths of using a shadow jury?

A
  • real case and evidence so high ecological validity
  • not same physiological stress so good ethics
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8
Q

what are some weaknesses of using a shadow jury?

A
  • no influence on final verdict so not same pressure, reduces validity
  • lacks control over EVs so hard to establish cause and effect
  • hard to obtain representative jury so low generalisability
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9
Q

what is pre trial publicity?

A
  • media/other coverage of a case before the trial takes place
  • assumed that jury members will have read or heard about a high publicity case
  • may cause them to be prejudiced
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10
Q

what information may PTP include?

A
  • facts about crime
  • details of defendant’s past offences
  • emotional opinions
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11
Q

when may PTP cause jurors to be more conviction prone?

A

when the publicity is designed to elicit an emotional response

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12
Q

what is a gagging order?

A

the refrain of disclosing certain information to the public/press

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13
Q

how might PTP affect a juror’s decision making in relation to memory?

A
  • gives misinformation that can be incorporated into the trial’s evidence
  • juror mixes up information read in media with information in trial due to reconstructive memory
  • negative impact on verdict if portrayed negatively
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14
Q

what is rationalisation in terms of PTP?

A

jury forgets information that does not conform to a positive or negative schema

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15
Q

what is confabulation in terms of PTP?

A

jury changes details in order to fit the schema they already have existing from what they have read in the media

16
Q

what is voir dire?

A

potential jurors are questioned about biases they may hold, by a judge/lawyer to determine suitability

17
Q

what is a weakness of voir dire?
- validity

A
  • attorneys ability to uncover general juror bias is limited
  • difficult to identify biased jurors because of self report
  • jurors may not recognise factors influencing decision making such as PTP
18
Q

what is a weakness of voir dire?
- generalisability

A
  • used in american justice system
  • cannot represent other cultures
19
Q

what is judicial instruction?

A
  • instructions to jury about duty to avoid being influenced by PTP
  • emphasise importance of disregarding previously heard info about the case and relying solely on information presented in trial
20
Q

what is substantive instruction?

A
  • laws applying to the specific case at hand
  • eg defining first/second degree murder
21
Q

what is a procedural instruction?

A
  • general juror duties relevant across cases
  • eg legal thresholds like reasonable doubt
22
Q

when is judicial instruction more effective?

A

when paired with rationale for why info should be disregarded

23
Q

what is continuance?

A

delaying the start of a trial

24
Q

how does continuance act as a remedy for PTP?

A
  • hope that effects of PTP will decrease as time passes
  • decreases factual PTP but not emotional
25
Q

what is a weakness of using continuance?

A
  • meta analysis showed that longer delays between PTP and a trial can actually increase PTP effects
  • due to sleeper effect where information becomes detached from unreliable memory source making it impossible for jurors to identify whether info came from PTP or trial
26
Q

what is a strength of PTP affecting JDM?
- supporting evidence 1

A

Thomas
- juries in Nottingham, Worcester, London
- 44% of jurors recalled emphasis of media reports and tended to remember publicity suggesting guilt
- in high profile cases, 20% of jurors who recalled media reports found it hard to put this out of their minds while serving as a juror

27
Q

what is a strength of PTP affecting JDM?
- supporting evidence 2

A

Steblay et al
- meta analysis
- review effects of PTP on 44 different studies
- jurors exposed to neg PTP more likely to give a guilty verdict

28
Q

what is a strength of PTP affecting JDM?
- supporting evidence 3

A

Honess et al
- factual and emotional recall of PTP
- 50 mock jurors shown simulation of trial material
- reasoning and verdicts recorded
- highly emotional material more likely to be remembered and affecting reasoning/confidence

29
Q

what is a weakness of PTP affecting JDM?
- methodology criticism

A
  • DV not measured in valid way
  • eg asking ppt to give a sentence is not a normal juror task
  • lacks ecological validity
30
Q

what is a weakness of PTP affecting JDM?
- generalisability

A
  • student samples
  • cannot represent wider population
31
Q

what is a strength of PTP affecting JDM?
- validity

A
  • meta analysis
  • large samples
  • for stats analysis
32
Q

what is a strength of PTP affecting JDM?
- methodology compliment

A
  • high control over EVs
  • cause and effect can be established

Psychology 5: Criminal (23 decks)

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