Effects of testimonial inconsistencies and eyewitness confidence on mock-juror judgments.
This study examined the interaction between testimonial consistency and eyewitness confidence on mock-jurors' judgments of probability that the defendant committed the crime and verdicts. In a 2 (testimonial consistency) x 2 (confidence) between-groups design, 130 mock-jurors listened to an audio-taped trial of a person charged with armed robbery. Manipulations were contained in the prosecution witness's responses to detailed questioning by prosecution and defense attorneys. Although consistency is considered to be a key marker of accuracy, its impact on judgments was weak and nonsignificant. Witness confidence had a strong influence on judgments, whether testimony was consistent or inconsistent. We suggested that witness confidence may be more likely to emerge as a dominant influence on juror judgments when the testimony is wide ranging rather than relatively brief and concerned only with a specific issue (e.g., identification confidence).
Brewer
Neil
N
School of Psychology, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. neil.brewer@flinders.edu.au
Burke
Anne
A
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003415:Crime / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D013637:Tape Recording