Understanding Pretrial Publicity: Predecisional Distortion of Evidence by Mock Jurors

Autor/inn/en	Hope, Lorraine; Memon, Amina; McGeorge, Peter
Titel	Understanding Pretrial Publicity: Predecisional Distortion of Evidence by Mock Jurors
Quelle	In: Journal of Experimental Psychology Applied, 10 (2004) 2, S.111-119 (9 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1076-898X
Schlagwörter	Publicity; Court Litigation + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Rechtsstreit
Abstract	Prejudicial pretrial publicity (PTP) constitutes a serious source of juror bias. The current study examined differences in predecisional distortion for mock jurors exposed to negative PTP (N-PTP) versus nonexposed control participants. According to work by K. A. Carlson and J. E. Russo (2001), predecisional distortion occurs when jurors bias new evidence in favor of their current leading party (prosecution or defense) rather than evaluating this information for its actual probative properties. Jury-eligible university students (N=116) acted as jurors in a mock trial. Elevated rates of guilty verdicts were observed in the N-PTP condition. Predecisional distortion scores were significantly higher in the N-PTP condition and reflected a proprosecution bias. The effect of prejudicial PTP on verdict outcomes was mediated by predecisional distortion in the evaluation of testimony. Results are discussed in relation to motivated decision making and confirmation biases. (Author).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10