Threshold point utilisation in juror decision-making

Curley, Lee J.; MacLean, Rory; Murray, Jennifer; Pollock, Andrew C.; Laybourn, Phyllis

Abstract

The current research aimed to identify whether a model of juror decision making (i.e. the threshold model) that encompasses both rational and intuitive decision making exists. Sixty participants were selected who would be eligible for jury duty in Scotland. These individuals read nine vignettes and rated the evidence of each vignette separately by placing the evidence in either a guilty, not guilty or not proven (a verdict type specific to Scotland) counter. Participants were asked after each piece of information to state how likely they thought the suspect was of being guilty on a scale from 1 to 100. The data were best described using a flexible model (i.e., a diffusion model) that allowed for information integration. Future research should examine whether or not the diffusion model can explain cognitive fallacies, such as confirmation bias, commonly studied in decision science.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 21, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Dec 5, 2018
• Publication Date: 2019
• Deposit Date: May 31, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 5, 2018
• Journal: Psychiatry, Psychology and Law
• Print ISSN: 1321-8719
• Electronic ISSN: 1934-1687
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 26
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 110-128
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2018.1485520
• Keywords: Jurors, Decision Making, Stopping Rule, Information Integration, Heuristics, cue utilisation, Law, Psychology, Court Room, Not Proven Verdict.
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/1193392
• Contract Date: Aug 22, 2018