psychology & the courtroom

Question 1

our justice system?

Answer 1

adversarial system

aim is to win, irrespective of truth

sides present a version of events, using persuasion and discrediting witnesses & victims

Question 2

correlational study on attractiveness of defendant?

Answer 2

stewart did a correlational study of 60 trials in pennsylvania

observed trials and rated defendants on good looks, neatness, cleanliness and quality of dress

he found that less attractive people received longer sentences (negative correlation between attractiveness and sentence length)

however cannot determine cause and effect, may be an intervening variable

Question 3

experiment on attractiveness of defendant?

Answer 3

sigall and ostrove conducted an experiment with 60f and 60m students as mock jurors

read booklet detailing either a swindle or burglary by a clearly guilty female defendant, either w/ attractive photo, unattractive photo or no photo, ps had to decide on a sentence between 1-15 yrs

being attractive had little effect on sentencing, but attractive defendants benefitted with lighter sentencing, unless looks where exploited for crime

however mock nature reduces ecological validity, students, choice made independently

Question 4

experiment on confidence in a witness?

Answer 4

penrod & cutler

ps watched a mock trial and had to decide defendant’s guilt

when witness claimed 100% confidence in defendant as prosecutor, 67% and when 80% confidence, 60% guilty verdicts

studies also show little correlation between an eyewitness’ confidence & accuracy of testimony (0.00 to 0.20)

Question 5

dixon et al background?

Answer 5

seggie, australian study

ps listen to recording of accused pleading innocent to a charge of either assault (a blue collar crime) and theft (a white collar crime)

each crime had a version read by an australian, brit and an asian

ps randomly assigned to 6 conditions and had to assess guilt

more guilty for australian committing assault and brit committing theft

Question 6

dixon et al aim?

Answer 6

test hypothesis that a birmingham accented suspect would be rated more guiltily than a suspect with received pronunciation

also tested effects of race and crime type

Question 7

dixon et al sample?

Answer 7

119 white students with a mean age of 25.2, 24m and 95f

Question 8

dixon et al procedure?

Answer 8

ps heard 2 min recording of ‘policeman’ and ‘suspect’ who claimed innocent

suspects race and crime type was tweaked by changing manuscript slightly

Question 9

dixon et al results?

Answer 9

found that brummie accent was rated more guiltily that received pronunciation

black, brummie armed robbery condition being rated most guilty

Question 10

presentation of witness as a strategy to influence decision making?

Answer 10

stewart - barristers should make sure clients look their best, men well groomed, well dressed

sigall and ostrove - women should do the same, unless looks could be seen to have facilitated crime, then they should look plain

dixon et al - defendants should speak well

Question 11

witness confidence to influence decision making?

Answer 11

penrod and cutler - witnesses should be prepared for pressure of the courtroom and practice what they have to say as they’ll be exposed to hostile cross-examination

Question 12

expert witnesses as a strategy to influence decision making

Answer 12

used to inform jury of what they should/shouldn’t focus on

Question 13

loftus as evidence for expert witnesses?

Answer 13

ps read account of armed robbery and murder, only circumstantial evidence of defendant’s guilt

no eyewitness - 17% guilty verdicts
credible eyewitness - 72% guilty verdicts
witness with questionable eyesight - 68% guilty verdicts

ps less likely to give guilty verdicts when informed by expert witness (43% compared to 68%)