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Article
Effects of Pre-trial Publicity and Jury Deliberation on Juror Bias and Source Memory Errors
Applied Cognitive Psychology
  • Christine Ruva, University of South Florida
  • Cathy McEvoy, University of South Florida
  • Judith Becker Bryant, University of South Florida
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2007
Abstract

We examined the effects of exposure to pre-trial publicity (PTP) and jury deliberation on juror memory and decision making. Mock jurors either read news articles containing negative PTP or articles unrelated to the trial. They later viewed a videotaped murder trial, after which they either made collaborative group decisions about guilt or individual decisions. Finally, all participants independently attributed specific information as having been presented during the trial or in the news articles. Exposure to PTP significantly affected guilty verdicts, sentence length, perceptions of defendant credibility, and misattributions of PTP as having been presented as trial evidence. Jury deliberation had significant effects on jury verdicts, perceptions of defendant credibility, source memory for trial items, and confidence in source memory judgements, but did not affect sentences or critical source memory errors.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1254
Citation / Publisher Attribution

Applied Cognitive Psychology, v. 21, issue 1, p. 45-67

Citation Information
Christine Ruva, Cathy McEvoy and Judith Becker Bryant. "Effects of Pre-trial Publicity and Jury Deliberation on Juror Bias and Source Memory Errors" Applied Cognitive Psychology Vol. 21 Iss. 1 (2007) p. 45 - 67
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/christine-ruva/3/