YOUR BRAIN ON TRIAL

“Lessons from psychology could greatly improve courtroom  making, reducing racial bias, eyewitness errors and false confessions”

By: Scott O. Lilienfeld and Robert Byron

Published: Scientific American Mind; January / February 2013
To access the text, copy paste the following: 
http://www.readcube.com/articles/10.1038/scientificamericanmind0113-44

Level of Difficulty: ****

WHILE YOU READ: It is suggested that you stop to discuss or think about each section. It is also suggested that you make notes on each section for the writing task.

QUESTIONS

1.       What does “It” refer to in the phrase “It arrived only after”?

2.       Cases like that of Mr. Ireland’s could be prevented thanks to …………………………………according to the text.

3.       What conclusion can we draw from the 1990 study at Harvard University?

4.       The effects of belief perseverance are neglected in court in the following two cases:

5.       The common sense way to prevent belief perseverance in the case of evidence to be ignored is ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

6.       Reading out the charges at the start of a trial can be unfair to the defendant because it encourages …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

7.       The 1974 University of Washington experiment proved that ………………………………………………..

8.       Why exactly do Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton tour the country and give presentations? Use your own words.

9.       The figures published by the Innocence Project prove that ……………………………………………………

10.   Which of the following interfere with eyewitness testimony? Select as many as you see fit.

·         Differences in social class

·         Skin color

·         Leading questions

·         Tone of voice

·         Guns

·         Age

11.   Why exactly is a simultaneous lineup biased against the innocent whereas a sequential lineup is not?

12.   The police officers organizing a line up should be unaware of…………………………….and refrain from ……………………………………………to decrease the possibility of an innocent person being victimized.

13.   Why exactly is the disadvantage of the proposals made by the writers not so important in retrospect?

14.   Why don’t people seem to be able to differentiate between true and false confessions?

15.   Various factors that lead to false confessions are listed in the text. What general heading can we give them?

16.   Amanda Knox’s guilt is far from certain because she underwent…………………………………………….

17.   The writers warn against the use of the Reid Technique specifically because ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

18.   The three solutions suggested to minimize instances of false confessions are: ……………………….

19.   What conclusion can we draw from the 2007 University of Chicago experiment?

20.   Besides guaranteeing fairness, racially diverse juries have additional advantages of ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

21.   According to experts, …………………………….are better indicators of lying than the widely accepted focus on……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

22.   What does “this bias” at the end of the last paragraph but one refer to and what is the reason for it?

WRITING TASK

Write a problem solution essay discussing how miscarriages of justice can be prevented. You will find a sample essay on the topic under Sample Essays

In your introduction, discuss the importance of providing justice and avoiding errors. State in your thesis statement that there are two categories of solutions that can be implemented

In your first developmental paragraph, discuss the measures that could be implemented before the case comes to trial.

In your second developmental paragraph, discuss the changes that should be made to courtroom procedure to ensure more fairness

In your conclusion, write a restatement

YOUR BRAIN ON TRIAL KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES

Like  so many of the texts in Scientific American Mind, this piece has a wow factor, is riveting and lends itself to some super questions. When I was scratching my head and wondering how I was going to find such texts, I hit on this brilliant magazine. There is quite simply no other like it for our purposes. It’s one down side is that it isn’t free but students should be subscribing to something anyway – there are discounts – and a lot of universities subscribe anyway. It was a must have and do unfortunately but you will love the material I promise.

1.       Ireland’s new found freedom

2.       Psychological science

3.       Believing is our default mode so it comes to us naturally, disbelieving does not

4.       Judges admonitions to jurors to disregard a piece of evidence; reading the charges to the jury

5.       To explain why the jury should ignore it

6.       Confirmation bias; OR the jury according more weight to evidence that seems to prove the charges than to evidence that does not

7.       Eyewitness reports of an incident can be influenced adversely by information provided after the event

8.       Possible answer: Because she pointed to R.C. as the suspect saying she was 100% certain and he went to prison for eleven years for something he didn’t do.

9.       Consistency should not be confused with correctness

10.   2, 3 and 5

11.   Because witnesses (rely on a rule of thumb that is relative rather than absolute  and ask themselves which one of these people is most similar to the suspect I remember seeing) feel compelled to pick the closest match even if it is far from perfect. The parenthesis is not wrong but quite unnecessary as I am sure you can see. You need to try and pick out the most direct answer

12.   The identity of the suspect; giving feedback

13.   Because the American judicial system should be safeguarding the innocent

14.   Many of us find the notion that a person would own up to a crime they didn’t commit difficult to fathom

15.   Personal and situational factors

16.   A 43 hour coercive interrogation (across a five day period in a foreign country with the final eight hours conducted overnight without food and water) The parenthesis is what a coercive interrogation is and is not necessary. You need to pick out the shortest answer

17.   It increases the chances of a false confession by a factor of more than 7

18.   A video of the full interrogation, having an attorney present, a technique dubbed PEACE

19.   Racial bias may be rapid and largely automatic

20.   Being superior critical thinkers, bringing up more facts about the case, committing fewer factual mistakes and being more open to talking about race

21.   Verbal cues such as a lack of detail and minor imperfections in suspects’ stories; nonverbal cues

22.   Bias against the suspect; Camera Perspective Effect ; OR observers are prone to attributing cause to whatever is visually salient . Obviously the name is the best answer and you should pick it out.