psychology and the courtroom Flashcards
what are the three courts?
magistrates court, crown court, and court of appeal
what is the halo effect?
physically attractive people are assumed to have other attractive properties- this is why defendants are advised to turn up smartly dressed, clean and tidy for their day in court
what did sigall and ostrove (1985) aim to find?
whether attractiveness affected jury decision making, and if there was a relationship between attractiveness and type of crime committed
what did sigall and ostrove (1985) find?
the attractive photograph had a big effect on participant’s decision- thought attractive barbara should spend longer in prison for fraud and less for burglary
what did sigall and ostrove (1985) conclude?
good looking people do get away with some crimes (burglary), but if they have used their looks to commit the crime (fraud) they are less likely to get away with it
what did dixon (2002) plan to study?
decided to study the brummie accent, as it had been negatively rated in studied compared with other regional british accents or the RP accent
what did dixon (2002) predict?
- that the suspect with the brummie accent would receive higher ratings of guilt than the suspect with a standard accent
- interested whether race it type of crime affected ratings: black or white suspect/white collar or blue collar crime
background research to dixon’s (2002) study
- psychological research had previously shown that accents can have an effect on the impression people give
- standard accents are rated more positively than non-standard accents on intelligence and competence
- australian studied found different accents affected perceptions of the types of crime a defendant was guilty of committing
what were the participants in dixon’s (2002) study?
119 white undergraduate psychology students at university of worcester- forced to participate. birmingham students were excluded as it was assumed they would not have the same negative bias against the accent
what was the method in dixon’s (2002) study?
- listened to a two-minute recorded conversation based on a transcript of a birmingham police station interview in 1995
- standard accented student played the police inspector, and the suspect was played by a student who was a ‘natural code switcher’ who changed accent depending on the condition
what did dixon’s study (2002) find?
accent had a significant effect on the attribution of guilt by participants, with the brummie accent being rated higher on guilt.
there was a three-way-interaction between accent, race and crime with the black brummie suspect in the blue collar condition receiving significantly higher guilt ratings.
what did dixon’s (2002) study conclude?
there are problems with external and ecological validity through lack of evidential context.
but it supported previous research such as that in australia- leading dixon to believe whether some accents might sound guiltier than others.
strategies to influence a jury
this is hard to research as all jury negotiations must be anonymous and kept secret forever- no ecological validity.
loftus (1974) showed that even discredited eye witnesses who had no glasses on were more influential than having no eyewitnesses- 68% vs 17% guilty.
halo effect, changing accent to match judge or standard accent.
what are witness familiarisation techniques?
lawyers may use these to help witnesses increase their confidence in court- help them present themselves better
