topic 4 psychology and the courtroom Flashcards
Outline the name of the key study and the four additional studies
Dixon et al
-Penrod and Cutler
-Sigall and Ostrove
-Pennington and Hastie
Broeder
Outline the aims of Dixon et al
-to test the hypothesis that a suspect with a Brummie accent will recieve a higher rating of guilt than someone with a standard accent
-to see whether the race of the suspect and or type of crime would effect the likelihood of them being rated guiltY
(being associated with a working class culture, a brummie speaker might be viewed stereotypically)
Outline the sample of Dixon et al
-119 undergraduate psych students
-24 male 95 female
-university college windsor
-mean age 25 years
anyone who grew up in birmingham was excluded
-randomly assigned one of 8 conditions
Outline the procedure of Dixon et al
-participants listened to a 2 minute recording conversation based on a transcript of an interview that took place in a birmingham police station in 1995. It involved two people:
-male in his 40’s with a standard accent (police inspector)
-a male in his 20’s (played the role of suspect could switch between a brummie and a normal accent)
There were three independent variables that were manipulated
-suspect spoke with either a brummie or standard accent
-the suspect was accused of either armed robbery (blue-collar crime) or cheque fraud (white collar crime)
-The suspect was described by the inspector as being either white or black
In all versions of the tape recording, the suspect pleaded his innocence. after listening to whichever version of the tape they were given, participants were rated the suspect on a 7-point scale from inncent to guilty
Outline the three independent variables used in Dixon et al
There were three independent variables that were manipulated
-suspect spoke with either a brummie or standard accent
-the suspect was accused of either armed robbery (blue-collar crime) or cheque fraud (white collar crime)
-The suspect was described by the inspector as being either white or black
Outline the results found from Dixon et al
-the Brummie rated accent suspect was rated higher on guilt than the standard accent suspect (recieved pronunciation)
-The brummie accent/ black peron/ blue collar crime suspect got significantl higher ratings of than the other 5 conditions (showing bias)
Outline conclusions found from Dixon et al
Some accents e.g the brummie accent are deemed to sound guiltier than others
Dixon et al suggested that it is likely that stength if evidence in real cases will moderate any effects of accent on legal decisio making
Outline the name of the four additional studies
Penrod and Cutler
Pennington and Hastie
Sigall and Ostrove
Broedr
Outline the additional study by Penrod and Cutler
-A lab experiment with an independant measures design was carried out. Participants were shown one of two video taped mock trials for a robbery. The independant variable centred on the key female witness who stated in her evidence that she was either 80% confident of the identification of the suspect or 100%
-Participants (the mock jurors) included undergraduate students and experienced jurors. The dependant variable was whether they found the suspect guilty or not guilty.
Results
-when the eyewitness declared herself 80% confident about the identity of the suspect, he was found guilty 60% of the time
-when the eye witness declared herself 100% confident about the identity of the suspect, he was found guilty 67% of the time
This was a significant difference, suggesting that the more confident a witness is, the more the jurors are to be persuaded
Outline the additional study by Sigall and Ostrove
-based o the halo effect (what is beautiful is good)
Lab experiment-participants read an account of a crime, the suspect was a FEMALE
IV’s
-attractive
-unattractive
-control, no information about the looks of the suspect
DV’s
-participants recommend a sentence to jail from 1 year- 15
Results
=attractive subjects were given shorter sentences for burglary
=opposite for fraud as may use looks in the crime
Crime was either fraud or burglary
Outline the additional study by Pennington andHastie
-investigated is presenting evidence in story order vs. witness order (most important witnesses at the beginning and end of the trial) It was a mocj murder trial
Results
Defence order prosecution order guilty verdict
story order story order 59%
witness order witness order 63%
story order witness order 31%
witness order story order 78%
conclusions
story order seems to be more persuasive than witness order. Easier for jurors to construct a story when the evien is presneted in the order it was done
Outline the additional research by Broeder
-inadmissable evidence
-participants were on jury service at the time but aggreed to take part in a mock trial.
-30 expperimental juries listened to the case of a woman injured by a man who had driven his car recklessly (real case) Driver either said he had insurance or no insurance and in some cases this evidence was said to be inadmissable
-NO insurance $33,000
-Insurance $37,000
-Insurance and Inadmissbale $46,000
This supports the reactance theory
-being told not to do something by the judge makes people react to asser their freedom and independance
