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Witness Uncertainty and Its Effect on Jurors' Decisions

DeFranco, Rachel
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1355082776

Abstract Details

2012, BA, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences.
Many studies have shown that jurors are heavily swayed by highly confident eyewitnesses, even when their testimony is inaccurate. This study aimed to examine whether mock jurors are similarly sensitive to testimony provided with uncertainty. My study had three goals: (1) examine whether mock jurors would distrust testimony provided with uncertainty more than information provided without doubt, even if presented by the same witness; (2) assess how sensitive mock jurors are to testimony provided with low confidence, by eliminating a high confidence comparison, and (3) examine whether mock jurors would be more sensitive to some indicators of uncertainty than others. Participants listened to a fictionalized eyewitness interview containing six neutral confidence items and five critical items, of which each varied in degree of uncertainty. After a cover task, participants rated their confidence that each item mentioned by the witness had actually happened. The results showed mock jurors were distrustful of information presented with uncertainty even if the witness had been confident in previous answers, that mock jurors were sensitive to low confidence even when there was not a high confidence comparison, and that both overt and less overt indicators of uncertainty had comparable effects on mock jurors’ belief in the testimony’s veracity.
Maria Zaragoza, PhD (Advisor)
Cognitive Psychology
eyewitness; juror; memory; cognitive; uncertainty; confidence

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • DeFranco, R. (2012). Witness Uncertainty and Its Effect on Jurors' Decisions [Undergraduate thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1355082776

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • DeFranco, Rachel. Witness Uncertainty and Its Effect on Jurors' Decisions. 2012. Kent State University, Undergraduate thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1355082776.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • DeFranco, Rachel. "Witness Uncertainty and Its Effect on Jurors' Decisions." Undergraduate thesis, Kent State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ksuhonors1355082776

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ksuhonors1355082776
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© 2012, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University Honors College and OhioLINK.