JUDGMENT BY JURIES (FROM HUMAN JUDGMENT AND DECISION PROCESSES IN APPLIED SETTINGS, 1977, BY MARTIN F KAPLAN AND STEVEN SCHWARTZ)

• NCJ Number: 46661
• Author(s): M KAPLAN
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 26 pages
• Grant Number(s): MH19388; MH23516; G527290
• Sponsoring Agency: National Science Foundation; D Reidel Publishing Co
• Corporate Author: Academic Press, Inc
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THE APPLICATION OF INTEGRATION THEORY TO JUROR JUDGMENT IS EXPLORED.

Abstract

IT IS ARGUED THAT, SINCE JURORS RECEIVE INFORMATION ABOUT A TRIAL CASE AND MUST INTEGRATE THE INFORMATION TO FORM A UNITARY JUDGMENT ON DIMENSIONS SUCH AS GUILT, LIABILITY, AND PUNITIVE DAMAGES, THEIR TASK IS ESSENTIALLY JUDGMENTAL AND MAY BE UNDERSTOOD BY THE SAME MODELS USED IN LABORATORY STUDIES OF PERSONAL JUDGMENTS. THE FIRST SECTION BRIEFLY OUTLINES THE NATURE OF THE JUDGMENT MODEL, AND SUBSEQUENT SECTIONS APPLY THE MODEL TO CENTRAL ASPECTS OF JUROR BEHAVIOR. THE FUNDAMENTAL PARAMETERS OF INFORMATION INTEGRATION THEORY ARE OUTLINED, AND A NUMBER OF POTENTIAL MODELS OF THE INTEGRATION PROCESS ARE ILLUSTRATED, INCLUDING AVERAGING CONSTANT-WEIGHT AVERAGING MODELS, DIFFERENTIAL-WEIGHT AVERAGING MODELS, ADDING MODELS, AND MULTIPLYING MODELS. THE INFLUENTIAL ROLE SUCH FACTORS AS WITNESS CREDIBILITY, ORDER OF PRESENTATION, DEFENDANT CHARACTERISTICS, AND JUROR DISPOSITIONS PLAY IN THE JUDGMENT PROCESS IS DISCUSSED. TWO EXPERIMENTS ARE DESCRIBED. THE FIRST INVOLVES JUROR BIAS AND EVIDENTIAL VALUE AND RELIABILITY, WHILE THE SECOND EXPLORES JUROR BIAS AND EVIDENTAL DISCOUNTING. ATTEMPTS ARE MADE TO CHART GUILTINESS RATINGS AS A FUNCTION OF JUROR DISPOSITION, EVIDENTIAL INCRIMINATION VALUE, AND THE RELIABILITY OF EVIDENCE. THE SECOND EXPERIMENT INVOLVES A SIMILAR GAUGING OF GUILTINESS RATINGS AS A FUNCTION OF JUROR DISPOSITION AND ATTRIBUTED RELIABILITY OF THE EVIDENCE. ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS ON CASE OUTCOMES OF JURY DELIBERATION IS DESCRIBED. DISCUSSION-INDUCED POLARIZATION, ITS EFFECTS, AND THE NATURE OF SHARED INFORMATION ARE EXAMINED. THREE EXPERIMENTS ARE DESCRIBED REGARDING THE EFFECTS OF DISCUSSION CONTENT, NORMATIVE PRESSURES, AND REDUNDANCY IN DISCUSSION. GRAPHIC DATA ARE PRESENTED DETAILING MEASURES OF PRE- AND POSTDISCUSSION GUILTINESS RATINGS AS A FUNCTION OF PROPORTIONAL VALUE OF SHARED INFORMATION, AND POSTDISCUSSION GUILTINESS RATINGS AS A FUNCTION OF REDUNDANCY OF SHARED INFORMATION. THE NATURE OF INFORMATION AND NORMATIVE INFLUENCES ARE THEN EXAMINED. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT INTEGRATION THEORY HAS THE ABILITY TO HANDLE SUCH ELEMENTS AS SOURCE, ORDER, RELIABILITY, AND INCRIMINATION VALUE OF EVIDENCE, EXTRALEGAL INFORMATION, AND JUROR BIAS. REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (KBL)