304 posts · 187,864 views
Social science research, current events & jury news all viewed through the lens of litigation advocacy with an emphasis on persuasion, bias, communication, and all phases of case preparation.
Rita Handrich
3 posts
Doug Keene
152 posts
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- August 31, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 911 views
This is what a good leader does not look like
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
Narcissists are often gregarious and social upon first meeting. They make a good initial impression. When I was learning about personality disorders in grad school we used to joke that they are wonderful on first dates, and a nightmare after that. But that good first impression wears thin over time and we find ourselves wondering [...]
Related posts:Being a good bragger (but stopping short of narcissism)
Power, Penises and the Role of the Presiding Juror
Mistrials due to lawyers making faces, ........ Read more »
Nevicka, B., Ten Velden, F., De Hoogh, A., & Van V. (2011) Reality at odds with perceptions: Narcissistic leaders and group performance. . Psychological Science. info:/
- August 24, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 1,495 views
Want to be exploited, harassed and poor? Take your new husband’s last name!
by Rita Handrich in The Jury Room
I tried to convince my headstrong niece otherwise but she persisted. She didn’t think keeping her last name mattered. As a member of the generation that pioneered the acceptability for women to keep their own last name after marriage, I was sure it did. Now I know I was right. And now she will know [...]
Related posts:Hard to be a woman? The beat goes on….
Redux: Sometimes it’s hard to be a woman (with appreciation to Tammy Wynette, Linda Ronstadt and Anne Reed)
“I didn’t know truth ........ Read more »
Noordewier, M., Horen, F., Ruys, K., & Stapel, D. (2010) What's in a Name? 361.708 Euros: The Effects of Marital Name Change. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 32(1), 17-25. DOI: 10.1080/01973530903539812
- August 22, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 908 views
Power, Penises and the Role of the Presiding Juror
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
So it happened again. We do a lot of pre-trial research and observe a lot of both mock jurors and the dynamics related to presiding jurors. This past weekend, we re-experienced the frustration of how bad it can be when you get a controlling and dominant presiding juror. In a real jury, a dominant presiding [...]
Related posts:Deliberations & the role of the presiding juror
Educating Jurors: How NOT to start deliberations
Mistrials due to lawyers making faces, internet misconduct &........ Read more »
Koenig AM, Eagly AH, Mitchell AA, & Ristikari T. (2011) Are leader stereotypes masculine? A meta-analysis of three research paradigms. Psychological Bulletin, 137(4), 616-42. PMID: 21639606
- August 19, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 1,127 views
Simple Jury Persuasion: Be concrete and be seen as truthful
by Rita Handrich in The Jury Room
It’s really about avoiding ‘lawyerese’. That sort of language makes you sound fancy but fails to make you likeable or helpful to jurors hearing your case. And that’s really what you want. Sometimes clients will marvel that we are able to extract so much information from focus group participants, and they ask us why we [...]
Related posts:Simple Jury Persuasion: Stand up straight but avoid gesturing with your hands in front of the jury!
Simple Jury Persuasion: Don’t confuse argument w........ Read more »
Hansen J, & Wänke M. (2010) Truth from language and truth from fit: the impact of linguistic concreteness and level of construal on subjective truth. Personality , 36(11), 1576-88. PMID: 20947772
- August 17, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 846 views
Can reading a story make you a vampire?
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
Apparently, the answer is yes. And it can also make you a wizard. The key (according to this research) is in what you are reading. We’ve talked about the power of stories (told well) to transport the listener. This goes beyond transporting listeners into something that is frankly strange. Researchers looked at the narrative-collective-assimilation hypothesis. [I [...]
Related posts:You’re not too old for a story (but you might be too young!)
Voir Dire Tip: Are you ‘transported’ by a........ Read more »
Gabriel S, & Young AF. (2011) Becoming a Vampire Without Being Bitten: The Narrative Collective-Assimilation Hypothesis. Psychological Science. PMID: 21750250
- August 12, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 903 views
Automatism and the Ambien Defense
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
We’re betting you know what the ‘Ambien Defense’ would be—but that maybe the definition for automatism has escaped you. Generally it refers to a robot, specifically to an autonomous robot—which is a pretty scary thing when you think about it. And in this case, scary things happened. Here’s the story, courtesy of the Fayetteville Observer. Robert [...]
Related posts:Betrayal trauma defense: “She was too distraught to form legal intent”
A comment on affirmative defense strategie........ Read more »
Praveen Kambam, MD, & Phillip Resnick, MD. (2010) Ineffective Counsel and Mental Health Expert Witness Testimony in an Insanity Defense. . Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 38(4). info:/
- August 10, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 1,042 views
The eyes of [not just] Texas are upon you…
by Rita Handrich in The Jury Room
As trial consultants based in Austin, Texas (one a graduate of UT Austin and the other a long-time staff member there) we often hear the UT athletic song ‘The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You’. The melody is easy and friendly (everyone else knows it as “I’ve been working on a railroad”). The lyrics are [...]
Related posts:We pray with closed eyes
“I can look into his eyes and just tell he is lying”
Patent litigation and wonder in East Texas
... Read more »
Bourrat, P., Baumard, N., & McKay, R. (2011) Surveillance cues enhance moral condemnation. . Evolutionary Psychology, 9(2), 193-199. info:/
- August 8, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 1,058 views
Detecting Deception: Be still my eyebrows!
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
Here’s a study we found at Science Daily and thought was a useful addition to our ongoing exploration of how to identify deception. While eyebrows have been found not useful in identifying Mormon faces, apparently they are useful in identifying deception. As it turns out, it is harder for liars to control the upper part of their [...]
Related posts:Detecting Deception Using the Law of Sufficient Motivation
Deception Detection: The latest on what we know
Outsmarting liars (five decades of r........ Read more »
Carolyn M. Hurley, & Mark G. Frank. (2011) Executing Facial Control During Deception Situations. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 35(2). info:/
- August 5, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 1,107 views
Let me tell you a story…
by Rita Handrich in The Jury Room
Everyone loves to hear a good story. And if you are reading our blog, you probably love to tell stories, too. A good story is essential to effective communication and persuasion, and that sort of defines our wheel-house. But I digress… Sometimes stories are traditional “once upon a time” sorts of tales, but more often [...]
Related posts:Voir Dire Tip: Are you ‘transported’ by a good story?
The story of the numbers behind the story
You’re not too old for a story (but you mi........ Read more »
Berger J. (2011) Arousal Increases Social Transmission of Information. Psychological science. PMID: 21690315
- August 3, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 1,155 views
I’m disgusted (until I wash my hands and feel purified)
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
It’s not just Pontius Pilate and Lady MacBeth, all of us feel better with clean hands. The disgust literature is everywhere these days. As it turns out, disgust is a powerful emotional motivator. Researchers recently attempted to see if being even minimally involved in activities that brought participants into contact with religious beliefs different from their own [...]
Related posts:Choosing to either disgust your jurors or tick them off
Eww! That is just disgusting! (but…very interest........ Read more »
Ritter, RS, & Preston, JL. (2011) Gross gods and icky atheism: Disgust responses to rejected religious beliefs. . Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. info:/
- August 1, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 950 views
“Not all psychopaths are in prison. Some are in the Boardroom.”
by Rita Handrich in The Jury Room
When Robert Hare casually uttered the above statement, it caused small shock waves through the media. We are all familiar with psychopaths who end up in prison but we tend to not consider the reality that “they” walk among us. Recently, a study of 203 executives was conducted as part of a larger effort at [...]
No related posts.... Read more »
Babiak P, Neumann CS, & Hare RD. (2010) Corporate psychopathy: Talking the walk. Behavioral sciences , 28(2), 174-93. PMID: 20422644
- July 29, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 992 views
Simple Jury Persuasion: When you want to stack the jury with extraverts
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
Extraverts are the ones in the jury box who are making plans for lunch and organizing jury reunion parties. They chat up their bench-mates during voir dire, and can be seen making good-natured eye contact with everyone in the courtroom. They are also, according to some new research, more likely to believe in free will, [...]
Related posts:Simple Jury Persuasion: Blind spots, ethics & helping a jury make the right choice
Simple Jury Persuasion: The ‘attitude alignment’ effect & ........ Read more »
Schulz E, Cokely ET, & Feltz A. (2011) Persistent bias in expert judgments about free will and moral responsibility: A test of the expertise defense. Consciousness and cognition. PMID: 21596586
- July 27, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 880 views
Female bosses can lower a man’s pay & prestige
by Rita Handrich in The Jury Room
When you see a picture of Tammy Wynette on our blog, you know it’s time for another installation of “sometimes it’s hard to be a woman”. This time we have new research on how a female boss in a traditionally male job can lower her male subordinate’s salary as well as his prestige. How can this be [...]
Related posts:Hard to be a woman? The beat goes on….
Redux: Sometimes it’s hard to be a woman (with appreciation to Tammy Wynette, Linda Ronstadt and Anne Reed)
“I didn’t kno........ Read more »
Brescoll, VL,, Uhlmann, EL, & Moss-Racusin, C. (2011) Masculinity, Status and Subordination: Why working for a gender stereotype violator causes men to lose status. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. info:/
- July 25, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 955 views
Mock Jury Research: How do we make it more useful?
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
The literature on mock juries has been criticized for years for use of convenience samples (i.e., college students). An upcoming issue of the journal Behavioral Sciences and the Law is devoted to examining mock jury research and assessing where we have been and where we need to go. The authors argue that since we are trying [...]
Related posts:Why do the African American mock jurors all sit together?
Should you try online jury research?
The “Nerd Defense”: Redux
... Read more »
Wiener RL, Krauss DA, & Lieberman JD. (2011) Mock Jury Research: Where Do We Go from Here?. Behavioral sciences . PMID: 21706517
- July 22, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 798 views
Simple Jury Persuasion: “You know you want to trust me!”
by Rita Handrich in The Jury Room
Sometimes it’s sort of scary to leave the house in the morning. There is a lot of scary research out there. And now, we are told that it only takes two simple words to influence us to view a message more positively, act in accordance with that message, and positively view the message source. Wow. [...]
Related posts:Simple Jury Persuasion: Building Trust (but not) in Ten Easy Words
Simple Jury Persuasion: Liking + Identification = Impact
Simple Jury Persuasion: Make them eat brussel sprout........ Read more »
Legal, JB,, Chappe, J,, Coiffard, V., & Villard-Forest, A. (2011) Don’t you know that you want to trust me? Subliminal goal priming and persuasion. . Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. info:/
- July 20, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 1,496 views
Does desire trump beliefs based on facts when evaluating scientific evidence?
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
You probably know the answer to this question is yes. But the real answer is much more nuanced, which makes it so much more interesting. As it happens, if you are conflicted about the facts, you are more likely to be swayed by your desires than the facts themselves. When I was in graduate school, [...]
Related posts:Generation Y (aka the Millennials): Just the facts
Why facts don’t matter
Faulty Logic: Cannabis, psychosis and fish oil
... Read more »
Bastardi A, Uhlmann EL, & Ross L. (2011) Wishful thinking: belief, desire, and the motivated evaluation of scientific evidence. Psychological science, 22(6), 731-2. PMID: 21515736
- July 18, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 1,059 views
The Danger of Stereotyping: Does Gay Black = Likable?
by Rita Handrich in The Jury Room
It’s an interesting question. We know from recent research that black criminal defendants who wear glasses may be viewed as less threatening (and therefore more likable). And we’re guessing that gay black men may also seem less threatening than heterosexual black men. By now you likely know we wouldn’t muse on this sort of question [...]
Related posts:The ‘artful dodge’: The danger of a smooth talker
You’re on trial: Is it better to be an atheist or a black radical Muslim lesbian?
........ Read more »
Remedios, JD,, Chasteen, AL,, Rule, NO,, & Plaks, JE. (2011) Impressions at the intersection of ambiguous and obvious social categories: Does gay Black . Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. info:/
- July 15, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 1,419 views
Simple Jury Persuasion: Does Using an Interpreter Help or Hinder the Plaintiff?
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
You’ve seen non-native English speakers struggle to be understood on the witness stand. Even native English speakers can be tough to understand due to speech dialects or thick styles of pronunciation. We know accents make us all work harder to comprehend and that most of us don’t like to work that hard. So what happens [...]
Related posts:Simple Jury Persuasion: Alpha and Omega Persuasion Strategies
Simple Jury Persuasion: Liking + Identification = Impact
Simple Jury Persuasion: “How........ Read more »
Shuman DW, Stokes L, & Martinez G. (2011) Stranger at the Gate: the Effect of the Plaintiff's use of an Interpreter on Juror Decision-Making. Behavioral sciences . PMID: 21618274
- July 13, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 938 views
When graphic images backfire as persuasive tools
by Rita Handrich in The Jury Room
There has been a lot of reaction to the new graphic images the FDA will put on cigarette packs. From concerns about the government attempting to ‘regulate cool’ to derision and to concerns about the ‘shock value’ of the images, writers have been expressing their reactions. And so have researchers. There is a long history of research in [...]
Related posts:Images and ads create false memories
Three letter words that make a huge difference
Apology redux: Doing it right (and doing it w........ Read more »
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (2011) What makes an image memorable?. Science Daily. info:/
- July 11, 2011
- 07:02 AM
- 826 views
Size does matter—when you are lying
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
We’ve written a number of times about deception and the detection thereof. Our goal continues to be to keep you up to date on what we actually know about the art of detecting deception and what is simply unreliable ‘common wisdom’. There is some really intriguing and interesting research out there including a new study we [...]
Related posts:Deception Detection: The latest on what we know
Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!
Detecting Deception Using the Law of Sufficient Motivation
... Read more »
Eisenkopf, G., Gurtoviy, R., & Utikal, V. (2011) Size matters –when it comes to lies. University of Konstanz, Department of Economics. info:/
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