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Negative and positive pretrial publicity affect juror memory and

Joe Tinkham
Joe Tinkham

Negative and positive pretrial publicity can affect juror memory and decision making. The study found that negative pretrial publicity doubled the likelihood of a guilty verdict, while positive pretrial publicity decreased the likelihood of a guilty verdict and increased perceptions of the defendant's credibility. Both types of pretrial publicity negatively impacted juror's ability to accurately remember the source of information as coming from either the news article or the courtroom trial. Those in the delayed verdict condition also showed poorer source memory than those who gave an immediate verdict.

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Negative and Positive Pretrial Publicity Affect Juror Memory and Decision Making Joseph Tinkham Ruva, C. L., & McEvoy, C. (2008). Negative and positive pretrial publicity affect juror memory and decision making. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 14(3), 226-235.
Background Past research has found that source memory can be easily influenced by misinformation Also research on the effects of negative PTP on juror verdicts and ability to discriminate source information Past research criticized for not mimicking normal cognitive strain of a real trial, lasting anywhere from hours to days Delay between when information is presented and retrieved found to increase the number of errors
cont. This study is thought to be the first to analyze the effects of positive PTP on juror's memory Predicted that positive PTP would have little effect because of past research on negativity bias (people pay more attention to negative information) Predicted that participants in the negative PTP condition were more likely to render a guilty verdict and misattribute source information from news article to court trial Also predicted that participants in the delay condition would have poorer source-memory
Method N=159 participants (11 drop out) Mean age = 19 years old Used various Likert Scales to measure: defendant's guilt source information and confidence various credibility characteristics of the defendant ratings of the attorney
Methods cont. Randomly assigned to 3 conditions of PTP (news article content): Positive (Pro-Defendant) Negative (Anti-Defendant) Neutral (Unrelated) 5 days after reading, come back to view videotape trial give preliminary decision of defendant's guilt Randomly assigned to 2 time conditions: Immediate - gave final verdict that session Delay - gave final verdict 2 days later
Results both positive and negative PTP affects conviction rates of jurors negative PTP was found to double the likelihood of guilty verdict positive PTP decrease likelihood of guilty verdict and increase defendant's credibility both PTP have negative effects on source-memory, thinking material came from court trial Delay condition increase number of source-memory
Critique Overall Good Design/measures Successfully built on previous research Fitting conclusions Applicable to American culture Lacks generalizability outside American culture Question design of neutral PTP condition
Discussion Do you think these results would affect the overall group jurors' decision? How would you expected court and publicity culture to influence results? e.g. Guilty until proven innocent...

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Negative and positive pretrial publicity affect juror memory and

  • 1. Negative and Positive Pretrial Publicity Affect Juror Memory and Decision Making Joseph Tinkham Ruva, C. L., & McEvoy, C. (2008). Negative and positive pretrial publicity affect juror memory and decision making. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 14(3), 226-235.
  • 2. Background Past research has found that source memory can be easily influenced by misinformation Also research on the effects of negative PTP on juror verdicts and ability to discriminate source information Past research criticized for not mimicking normal cognitive strain of a real trial, lasting anywhere from hours to days Delay between when information is presented and retrieved found to increase the number of errors
  • 3. cont. This study is thought to be the first to analyze the effects of positive PTP on juror's memory Predicted that positive PTP would have little effect because of past research on negativity bias (people pay more attention to negative information) Predicted that participants in the negative PTP condition were more likely to render a guilty verdict and misattribute source information from news article to court trial Also predicted that participants in the delay condition would have poorer source-memory
  • 4. Method N=159 participants (11 drop out) Mean age = 19 years old Used various Likert Scales to measure: defendant's guilt source information and confidence various credibility characteristics of the defendant ratings of the attorney
  • 5. Methods cont. Randomly assigned to 3 conditions of PTP (news article content): Positive (Pro-Defendant) Negative (Anti-Defendant) Neutral (Unrelated) 5 days after reading, come back to view videotape trial give preliminary decision of defendant's guilt Randomly assigned to 2 time conditions: Immediate - gave final verdict that session Delay - gave final verdict 2 days later
  • 6. Results both positive and negative PTP affects conviction rates of jurors negative PTP was found to double the likelihood of guilty verdict positive PTP decrease likelihood of guilty verdict and increase defendant's credibility both PTP have negative effects on source-memory, thinking material came from court trial Delay condition increase number of source-memory
  • 7. Critique Overall Good Design/measures Successfully built on previous research Fitting conclusions Applicable to American culture Lacks generalizability outside American culture Question design of neutral PTP condition
  • 8. Discussion Do you think these results would affect the overall group jurors' decision? How would you expected court and publicity culture to influence results? e.g. Guilty until proven innocent...