Timing of Eyewitness Expert Testimony, Jurors' Need for Cognition, and Case Strength as Determinants of Trial Verdicts.

Abstract

In 2 experiments, college students read a murder-trial transcript that included or did not include court-appointed expert testimony about eyewitness memory. The testimony either preceded or followed the evidence, and the judge's final instructions reminded or did not remind jurors about the expert's testimony. Expert testimony decreased perceptions of guilt and eyewitness believability when it followed the evidence and preceded the judge's reminder. This effect occurred whether the prosecution case was moderately weak or moderately strong. Jurors' need for cognition (NC) was curvilinearly related to convictions in a strong case. Low and high NC jurors convicted less than did moderate NC jurors. Greater scrutiny by high NC jurors may make them more likely to consider evidence for the weaker side.

Five Factor Model Personality Traits, Jury Selection, and Case Outcomes in Criminal and Civil Cases

“…However, Leippe, Eisenstadt, Rauch, and Seib (2004) found a curvilinear relation between Need for Cognition and convictions, with both high and low levels of the trait being associated with a low likelihood of conviction.…”

“…However, the FFM conceptualization of Authoritarianism as a combination of low Openness and high Conscientiousness suggests that these traits might be associated with conviction proneness in criminal cases. In addition, the FFM conceptualization of Need for Cognition as a combination of high levels Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Openness suggests that these may be negatively associated with conviction proneness (Leippe et al, 2004).…”

The role of death qualification and need for cognition in venirepersons' evaluations of expert scientific testimony in capital trials

“…This scale is comprised of 18 items measured on a Likert scale ranging from 0 ¼ ''extremely uncharacteristic of you'' to 5 ¼ ''extremely characteristic of you.'' Previous research has found that the NFC scale has acceptable levels of validity and reliability with respect to measuring need for cognition (Leippe, Eisenstadt, Rauch, & Seib, 2004).…”

“…One variable that affects people's motivation to evaluate expert scientific testimony is their need for cognition (Cacioppo, Petty, & Kao, 1984;Kassin, Reddy, & Tulloch, 1990;Leippe, Eisenstadt, Rauch, & Seib, 2004;McAuliff & Kovera, manuscript submitted for publication ;Sargent, 2004;Shestowsky & Horowitz, 2004). The need for cognition is defined as ''the tendency to engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive activity'' (Cacioppo et al, 1984).…”

An Examination of the Causes and Solutions to Eyewitness Error

“…For example, Leippe and his colleagues have summarized on several occasions the literature on eyewitness expert testimony (65–67). In their most recent summary, they divided the research on eyewitness expert testimony into two categories: studies prior to 1995 and studies after 1995 (66).…”