All posts; Tags Include "Sensation and Perception"
- March 21, 2016
- 07:02 AM
- 44 views
Does race make a difference in how jurors perceive battered spouse syndrome cases?
by Rita Handrich in The Jury Room
In a word, yes. But perhaps not in the way you might think. Researchers were interested in seeing if the race of parties involved in battered spouse syndrome case defenses would make a difference in how jurors made decisions about verdicts. The researchers say their study is a contribution to the “scarce literature on the […]
Related posts:
Playing the race card: When it works and why it doesn’t
Is it possible that jurors will be misled by emotional testimony and gruesome photos? ........ Read more »
Mossiere, A., Maeder, E., & Pica, E. (2016) Racial Composition of Couples in Battered Spouse Syndrome Cases: A Look at Juror Perceptions and Decisions. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. DOI: 10.1177/0886260516632355
- March 18, 2016
- 07:02 AM
- 90 views
The Metaphor Usage Measure (MUM) Scale
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
We often pick up terrific metaphors that fit well with specific cases during pretrial research. Sometimes they are very funny and sometimes they are simply evocative. But they are almost always useful and we listen carefully to see how they resonate with other mock jurors when they arise. Today’s research describes a scale to help […]
Related posts:
The GASP scale: A new measure of guilt and shame proneness
The Dirty Dozen Scale
The Generic Conspiracist Beliefs Scale
... Read more »
Fetterman, AK, Bair, JL, Werth, M, Landkammer, F, & Robinson, MD. (2015) The scope and consequences of metaphoric thinking: Using individual differences in metaphor usage to understand how metaphors function. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. info:/
- March 16, 2016
- 07:02 AM
- 86 views
”Willful ignorance” and the denigration of others
by Rita Handrich in The Jury Room
A while back we wrote about meat-eaters denigrating vegetarians. Apparently it is more common than one might think to make fun of “do-gooders” if you are not a “do-gooder” yourself. Today we are examining research on making fun of those who shop ethically. According to the researchers (from Ohio State University’s marketing department and UT […]
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Does the Millennial know that tattoo might be a business faux pas?
“I am so tired of people mistaking me for a mode........ Read more »
Zane, D., Irwin, J., & Reczek, R. (2015) Do less ethical consumers denigrate more ethical consumers? The effect of willful ignorance on judgments of others. Journal of Consumer Psychology. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcps.2015.10.002
- March 14, 2016
- 07:02 AM
- 32 views
Want to be seen as a leader? Go work out!
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
It wasn’t long ago we said all you had to do to be seen as a leader was grow a mustache but apparently this also helps! Men who look “strong” physically are presumed to be good leaders compared to men who do not look strong physically. These researchers had mastered Photoshop so we know their […]
Related posts:
You wanted to be a leader! Act like one! (or else)
Now, that’s a good-looking leader! (At least, in this group.)
Want to be a leader? Maybe you should grow a mustache........ Read more »
Lukaszewski, A., Simmons, Z., Anderson, C., & Roney, J. (2015) The Role of Physical Formidability in Human Social Status Allocation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. DOI: 10.1037/pspi0000042
- March 4, 2016
- 07:02 AM
- 151 views
Punctuation is important in text messages!
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
Not life and death important like commas can be, but if you do not make a point of ending your text reply with a period you may be misinterpreted. Just last week we blogged about the sarcasm emoticon and now we are blogging about periods? It’s true. Punctuation can not only save lives, it apparently […]
Related posts:
“I know I shouldn’t text from the toilet, but….”
Be careful what you text!
News You Can Use (like how Pepsi knows there was no mouse in your Mountain Dew)
... Read more »
Gunraj, D., Drumm-Hewitt, A., Dashow, E., Upadhyay, S., & Klin, C. (2016) Texting insincerely: The role of the period in text messaging. Computers in Human Behavior, 1067-1075. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2015.11.003
- March 2, 2016
- 07:02 AM
- 154 views
“My brain made me do it”: A neurolaw update
by Rita Handrich in The Jury Room
We’ve written about neurolaw fairly routinely here and recently Science Magazine took a look at what they call “the growing use of neurobiological evidence in criminal trials”. In our own experiences with pretrial research, mock jurors are not often accepting of “my brain made me do it” defenses and will roll their eyes and sometimes […]
Related posts:
Neurolaw Update: Who’s in charge here—me or my brain?
On brains, brain damage, pedophilia and other things we don’t like ........ Read more »
Farahany, N. (2016) Neuroscience and behavioral genetics in US criminal law: an empirical analysis. Journal of Law and the Biosciences. DOI: 10.1093/jlb/lsv059
- February 29, 2016
- 06:41 PM
- 165 views
How (and when) to communicate sarcasm in email and texts
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
[Spoiler alert: Don’t do it. And especially don’t do it on a group message. But if you must, make it clear you are kidding.] We have covered the use of emoticons in legal settings before, but here’s a research article looking at what helps the receiver understand the context in which your written comments are […]
Related posts:
When is it just an email and when is it retaliation?
Simple Jury Persuasion: Should you communicate the details or the big picture?
Does Face-to-Face Inter........ Read more »
Filik R, Țurcan A, Thompson D, Harvey N, Davies H, & Turner A. (2015) Sarcasm and emoticons: Comprehension and emotional impact. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1-17. PMID: 26513274
- February 26, 2016
- 07:02 AM
- 190 views
Spiders, dogs, assassins, beards and the demons of sleep paralysis (things you want to know)
by Rita Handrich in The Jury Room
We read a lot of articles in order to blog regularly and often find intriguing (not to mention weird, odd, esoteric, freakish) pieces of information to which we do not wish to devote an entire post—yet, also do not wish to hoard the information. At times like these, you will see a collection of the […]
Related posts:
Feeling biased? Just go to sleep and wake up bias-free!
Lumbersexuals with tattoos: Are they new and improved?
Do you believe there are Angels and Demons among us?
........ Read more »
Marchal S, Bregeras O, Puaux D, Gervais R, & Ferry B. (2016) Rigorous Training of Dogs Leads to High Accuracy in Human Scent Matching-To-Sample Performance. PLoS ONE, 11(2). PMID: 26863620
- February 24, 2016
- 07:02 AM
- 147 views
Simple Jury Persuasion: What would Jesus do?
by Rita Handrich in The Jury Room
A few years ago we were doing a mock trial in New York City and I saw a Rastafarian street vendor selling coffee cups with WWJD on them in block print. I thought it was odd and so looked more closely to find in teeny tiny letters under WWJD, it said “What would Jung do?”. […]
Related posts:
Simple Jury Persuasion: It’s really pretty black and white….
Simple Jury Persuasion: Analytic or Intuitive?
Simple Jury Persuasion: Christian religious concepts increase racial prejudice ........ Read more »
Ginges J, Sheikh H, Atran S, & Argo N. (2016) Thinking from God's perspective decreases biased valuation of the life of a nonbeliever. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113(2), 316-9. PMID: 26711991
- February 22, 2016
- 07:02 AM
- 170 views
Substance use and other mental health concerns among US attorneys
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
Over the past few years, following a number of high-profile attorney suicides, much more attention has focused on mental health needs of attorneys. The study we are featuring today was funded by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs. In short, the authors conclude we need to pay more […]
Related posts:
Reports of novel or contradictory health research reduces public trust in science
Lying makes me sick!
Defense Attorneys: More Sisyphus........ Read more »
Krill PR, Johnson R, & Albert L. (2016) The Prevalence of Substance Use and Other Mental Health Concerns Among American Attorneys. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 10(1), 46-52. PMID: 26825268
- February 17, 2016
- 07:02 AM
- 114 views
So…are you a narcissist? [The Ivy League edition]
by Rita Handrich in The Jury Room
We wrote about the Single-Item Narcissism Scale (SINS) back in 2014 and now it is drawing interest from those in the Ivy League. Simplicity itself, the SINS scale is composed of a single question: Are you a narcissist? As you likely know, the most widely used measure of narcissism which we’ve written about several times […]
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Be still my heart: A short (one-item!) measure of narcissism?
Narcissists and Pronouns: “I”, “me”, “mine”
The Dirty Dozen Scale ........ Read more »
van der Linden, S., & Rosenthal, S. (2016) Measuring narcissism with a single question? A replication and extension of the Single-Item Narcissism Scale (SINS). Personality and Individual Differences, 238-241. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2015.10.050
- January 29, 2016
- 07:02 AM
- 227 views
When terrified, liberals end up thinking a lot more like conservatives
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
It’s a basic tenet of the reptile theory that you want to frighten your jurors to make them vote for your client in deliberation. [The ABA has put out an open-access primer on the reptile theory and you can see that here.] It is also been shown repeatedly that conservatives are more fearful than liberals, […]
Related posts:
The evidence is mounting: The brains of liberals and conservatives differ
Are conservatives happier than liberals? Research says: No.
Mean-spirited blog comments........ Read more »
Van de Vyver, J., Houston, D., Abrams, D., & Vasiljevic, M. (2015) Boosting Belligerence: How the July 7, 2005, London Bombings Affected Liberals Moral Foundations and Prejudice. Psychological Science. DOI: 10.1177/0956797615615584
- January 25, 2016
- 11:55 AM
- 213 views
Want to be a leader? Maybe you should grow a mustache…
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
We’re unsure if this strategy would work for women but it seems to work for men—at least in medical schools and teaching hospitals. We do presume those male leaders with mustaches do not have the sort of mustache illustrating this post but what do we know? We also tend to believe that if a woman […]
Related posts:
You wanted to be a leader! Act like one! (or else)
Gender and Leadership: When Do Women Excel?
Now, that’s a good-looking leader! (At least, in this group.)
... Read more »
Wehner MR, Nead KT, Linos K, & Linos E. (2015) Plenty of moustaches but not enough women: cross sectional study of medical leaders. BMJ (Clinical research ed.). PMID: 26673637
- January 4, 2016
- 07:02 AM
- 277 views
Four (new) ways to identify a liar….
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
We’ve tracked the literature on deception detection for some time now and so were glad to see recent multiple new entries in the pursuit of identifying liars. Rather than blogging about these strategies one at a time, here’s a combined entry to let you know about them all in a single post. Are children good […]
Related posts:
Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!
“Everyday liars” and “Prolific liars”
Do great liars know how to tell if you’re lying to them? (Yes, they ........ Read more »
Fenn, E., Blandón-Gitlin, I., Coons, J., Pineda, C., & Echon, R. (2015) The inhibitory spillover effect: Controlling the bladder makes better liars. Consciousness and Cognition, 112-122. DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2015.09.003
- December 25, 2015
- 07:02 AM
- 278 views
Here’s an updated version of the meteorologists ‘Santa Tracker’
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
We’re taking a break until 2016 so we’ll see you in January! Most of us grew up watching the weather report on TV and seeing a NORAD ‘Santa Tracker’ showing where Santa and his sleigh were on their way for a long night of work. But this is 2015 and if you celebrate the holiday, […]
Related posts:
Psychopaths cannot understand punishment—what does that mean for the courtroom?
fMRIs and Persuasion: Did anyone tell the jurors?
A new neurolaw caveat to minimize punishmen........ Read more »
Hougaard A, Lindberg U, Arngrim N, Larsson HB, Olesen J, Amin FM, Ashina M, & Haddock BT. (2015) Evidence of a Christmas spirit network in the brain: functional MRI study. BMJ (Clinical research ed.). PMID: 26676562
- December 23, 2015
- 07:02 AM
- 356 views
Reducing racial prejudice in just seven minutes
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
This is a very different strategy for quickly reducing racial prejudice than past research has examined. This one involves the Buddhist practice called a Loving-kindness meditation (LKM) which involves focusing on a specific individual and repeating phrases like “may you be happy and healthy”. Researchers wanted to see if practicing a Loving-kindness meditation (LKM) would […]
Related posts:
Is racial bias fueling anti-Obama rhetoric?
Seeing and Believing and Reducing Prejudice
Ten ........ Read more »
Stell, A., & Farsides, T. (2015) Brief loving-kindness meditation reduces racial bias, mediated by positive other-regarding emotions. Motivation and Emotion. DOI: 10.1007/s11031-015-9514-x
- December 21, 2015
- 01:58 PM
- 458 views
Tattoos as a restorative act (for college-aged women anyway)
by Rita Handrich in The Jury Room
We write a lot about tattoos here—perhaps because we have Millennial aged kids and at least half of them have tattoos. Okay, more than half. The meaning of tattoos has changed over the years and there seems little stigma still associated with them any longer. The authors of new research on college students (2,394 of […]
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Ponytails, earworms, tattoos on college women, and emoticons
The new bumper sticker? Tattoos in the courtroom
Lumbersexuals with tattoos: Are they n........ Read more »
Koch, J., Roberts, A., Armstrong, M., & Owen, D. (2015) Tattoos, gender, and well-being among American college students. The Social Science Journal, 52(4), 536-541. DOI: 10.1016/j.soscij.2015.08.001
- December 21, 2015
- 08:57 AM
- 316 views
GABA, autism, and the correlation that wasn’t there
by Jon Brock in DrBrocktagon
Gamma aminobutyric acid (or GABA for short) is an inhibitory neurotransmitter - it makes a neuron less likely to fire. GABA is important, not only in damping down brain activity, but also in controlling the precise timing of the neural impulses. It allows groups of neurons to synchronize their activity and transmit signals across the brain. […]... Read more »
Robertson, C., Ratai, E., & Kanwisher, N. (2015) Reduced GABAergic Action in the Autistic Brain. Current Biology. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.11.019
- December 9, 2015
- 07:02 AM
- 499 views
The Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale and how much you really use your smartphone
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
Most of us don’t know how much we rely on smartphone use and this is likely a very important piece of information to help us understand why it’s so very hard for many jurors to stay away from their phones while serving jury duty. While only a small study (29 participants between the ages of […]
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The NoMoPhobia Scale (NMP-Q): What happens when you are without your smartphone
More than half of your potential jurors have smartphones now
Stop looking at your smartphone........ Read more »
Andrews, S., Ellis, D., Shaw, H., & Piwek, L. (2015) Beyond Self-Report: Tools to Compare Estimated and Real-World Smartphone Use. PLosOne, 10(10). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0139004
- December 4, 2015
- 12:02 PM
- 391 views
Ponytails, earworms, tattoos on college women, and emoticons
by Doug Keene in The Jury Room
Here it is, our last 2015 collection of things you may find intriguing to know (or not) that we found in our travels but to which we do not choose to devote an entire post. For the most part, these tidbits are based in scientific research and have helped some academic somewhere to obtain tenure. […]
Related posts:
Lumbersexuals with tattoos: Are they new and improved?
Tattoos: When should you clean up your witness?
“Glasses can’t hide neck tattoos”
... Read more »
Koch, J., Roberts, A., Armstrong, M., & Owen, D. (2015) Tattoos, gender, and well-being among American college students. The Social Science Journal. DOI: 10.1016/j.soscij.2015.08.001
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