Chapter 13 forensic psych

aversive racism

a description of those who believe in racial equality and view themselves as prejudiced, but have unconscious, negative beliefs about people of other races. In situations that elicit these negative beliefs, such individuals try to avoid acting on them or express them in subtle ways.

coherence-based reasoning

as applied to jurors’ cognitions, a theory that individuals form coherent representations of the evidence to reach a confident verdict.

damages

money awarded to a person injured by the unlawful act or negligence of another.

defensive attribution

an explanation for behavior that enables people to deal with perceived inequities in others’ lives and to avoid feelings of vulnerability.

dual-process models

descriptions of two approaches to human information processing. Typically they propose both a rational, deliberate approach, and a quick, intuitive approach. The former requires motivation, effort, and ability; the latter does not.

evidence-driven deliberation

a form of deliberation in which the jury thoroughly discusses the evidence before taking a vote.

evidentiary strength

refers to the nature of the evidence regarding guilt in a legal proceeding, and is probably the most important determinant of juror’s verdicts.

extralegal information

information is legally irrelevant in that it cannot serve as evidence in a legal proceeding.

inadmissible evidence

evidence in a legal proceeding that the court holds cannot be admitted, and therefore cannot be considered by the fact finder.

informational social influence

a process in which people accept evidence provided by others and modify their opinions accordingly.

juror bias

The tendency of any juror to use irrelevant, inadmissible, or extralegal evidence or considerations in the course of legal decision- making.

jury nullification

An option allowing the jury to disregard both the law and the evidence, and acquit the defendant, if the jury believes that an acquittal is justified.

liable

responsible or answerable for some action.

limiting instruction

an instruction to the jury placing explicit limitations on how certain evidence can be considered. For example, a judge may limit the consideration of a defendant’s prior record to gauging the defendant’s credibility only.

normative social influence

a process in which people conform to others’ expectations, often to gain acceptance.

outcome severity

The severity of an accident or injury.

predecisional distortion

a phenomenon by which jurors’ initial inclinations influence the way they interpret evidence presented during a trial.

primacy effect

the influence of information that is presented first, or early in a series.`

propensity evidence

evidence of a defendant’s past wrongdoings that suggest the defendant had the propensity, or inclination, to commit a crime.

psycholinguistics

the psychological study of how people use and understand language.

reactance theory

a theory proposing that if something is denied or withheld from a person, the person’s desire for it will increase.

recency effect

the influence on memory and decision-making of information that is presented last or later in a series.

schema

an individual’s cognitive framework or set of preconceptions that helps that person attend to, organize, and interpret relevant information.

story model

the notion that people construct a story or narrative summary of the events in a dispute.

sympathy hypothesis

the assumption that jurors’ decisions will be influenced by feelings of sympathy.

thought suppression

the attempt to avoid thinking about something specific.

verdict-driven deliberation

a form of deliberation in which the jury takes an immediate vote and discussion focuses on reaching agreement on a verdict.