SERIAL EFFECTS OF EVIDENCE ON LEGAL DECISION-MAKING

European Journal of Psychology Applied to Legal Context

Raluca Enescu¹  André Kuhn² 

[1] University of Hamburg (Germany);University of Lausanne (Switzerland);

关键词: decision making;    evidence;    order effects;    criminal trial;    veredict;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The order in which evidence is presentedto a criminal court might influence the verdict.This study investigated the serial position effectin a judicial context. 1831 Swiss criminal judgesreceived a filmed mock trial with a specificorder stemming from the combination of 3witnesses: a forensic expert, an eyewitness andan alibi witness. The evidence order wascompletely counterbalanced and each witnessrepresented a different type of testimony chosenin accordance with the legal practice. If judgesrendered their verdict on the basis of the firstwitness, a primacy effect would be observed.Conversely, if the last testimony would bepreponderant, a recency effect would influencetheir judgment. Results showed a recency effectbased on a defence eyewitness whose placementin the last position provoked significantly lesscondemnations. Furthermore, the probativevalue estimated by the judges for each piece of evidence was not associated with its serialimpact. Results are discussed in relation to legaldecision-making and the identification of acentral witness mediating order effects.

【 授权许可】

Unknown