NCJ Number
109081
Journal
Journal of General Psychology Volume: 114 Issue: 2 Dated: (1987) Pages: 129-133
Date Published
1987
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This study examined the effect of juror instructions on reasoning processes in a mock trial. Subjects were 60 undergraduates assigned to 1 of 4 conditions: legal definition before and after testimony, legal definition only before or after testimony, and no legal definition.
Abstract
Results indicate that presenting a legal definition of grand larceny before, after, and before and after testimony influenced decisionmaking, resulting in fewer guilty verdicts relative to the no-definition condition. Before and after definitions resulted in significantly fewer guilty verdicts (12.5 percent) than did presenting them before (27.5 percent) or after (30 percent). No significant differences in memory for relevant legal testimony were found among groups, suggesting results were due to information used to decide guilt rather than selective encoding of information. All subjects who returned a guilty verdict justified the verdict on the basis of the defendant's action, while those returning not-guilty verdicts used either the legal definition or moral arguments to justify their decisions. 12 references.