Psychology and the Courtroom Flashcards
What is a jury?
-Group of random citizens who decide if someone is guilty or not
What is the name of the two groups in court and what are their aims?
- Prosecution - present case to prosecute the suspect
- Defence - present case to try and defend suspect
What is the procedure in the court of law?
- Prosecution make their case against defendant and call their witnesses
- Defence then make their case and call their witnesses to the stand
- Then both sum up their arguments
- Then jury retire to jury room to deliberate and try to come to a conclusion (guilty or not guilty)
How many people are in a jury?
12
What happens if you do not turn up for a jury?
You get a £1000 fine.
What is one thing which could influence a jury’s decision?
If a witness if confident it is very persuasive for the jury.
Outline some previous research into how the confidence of a witness can effect the jury’s decision.
- Previous research was conducted where they manipulated the confidence of a key female witness, who said she was either 80% confident or 100% confident about her identification of a suspect
- Found that for 80% confident, there were 60% guilty verdicts, and for 100% there were 67% guilty verdicts
How can attractiveness of a defendant effect the jury’s decision?
- We associate personal attributes with physical ones
- Research shows attractive defendants are treated more leniently than unattractive ones
- However there are certain situations where being attractive can make you look more guilty (e.g. fraud)
What are two strengths of the mock trial method?
- Provides an ethical way of investigating the variables that can impact the courtroom
- Allow researchers to produce reliable findings
What is one weakness of the mock trial method?
-Jurors are aware it is a mock trial and therefore the lack of ‘high stakes’ may mean that the research lacks realism
