Relations among mock jurors' attitudes, trial evidence, and their selections of an insanity defense verdict: a path analytic approach. 1998

R L Poulson, and M J Brondino, and H Brown, and R L Braithwaite
Department of Psychology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858-4353, USA.

This study examined an important question relevant to the domain of the insanity defense: What are the interrelationships among important evidential and attitudinal factors which influence how jurors decide their final verdicts? To answer this question, a mock trial in which the insanity defense was argued was presented to 224 college undergraduates by means of an audiotape and slide show. Following the presentation, participants were asked to answer a series of questions regarding the trial. A path model was specified with four evidential factors as endogenous variables, i.e., evaluation of the defendant's mental status, belief that the defendant could be rehabilitated, beliefs regarding the accuracy of the expert witnesses, and mock-jurors' predeliberation verdicts. In addition, three attitudinal factors were specified as exogenous variables, i.e., attitudes toward the insanity defense, attitudes towards due process vs crime control, and attitudes towards the death penalty. The path model was consistent with previous literature, suggesting that jurors' attitudes toward the death penalty and the insanity defense had a direct effect on how they evaluated the accuracy of the expert testimony and their evaluation of the defendant's over-all mental status. In turn, mock jurors' evaluations of the defendant's mental status had a direct effect on their selections of verdict. Importantly, mock jurors' evaluations of the evidential factors, particularly the mental status of the defendant, were a stronger predictor of their selections of verdict than were their initial attitudes.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007298 Insanity Defense A legal concept that an accused is not criminally responsible if, at the time of committing the act, the person was laboring under such a defect of reason from disease of the mind as not to know the nature and quality of the act done or if the act was known, to not have known that what was done was wrong. (From Black's Law Dictionary, 6th ed) Criminal Insanity,M'Naghten Rule,McNaughton Rule,Defense, Insanity,Insanity, Criminal,Rule, M'Naghten,Rule, McNaughton
D012044 Regression Analysis Procedures for finding the mathematical function which best describes the relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables. In linear regression (see LINEAR MODELS) the relationship is constrained to be a straight line and LEAST-SQUARES ANALYSIS is used to determine the best fit. In logistic regression (see LOGISTIC MODELS) the dependent variable is qualitative rather than continuously variable and LIKELIHOOD FUNCTIONS are used to find the best relationship. In multiple regression, the dependent variable is considered to depend on more than a single independent variable. Regression Diagnostics,Statistical Regression,Analysis, Regression,Analyses, Regression,Diagnostics, Regression,Regression Analyses,Regression, Statistical,Regressions, Statistical,Statistical Regressions
D002203 Capital Punishment The use of the death penalty for certain crimes. Death Penalty,Electrocution, Judicial,Gas Chamber Execution,Hanging, Judicial,Lethal Injection,Capital Punishments,Chamber Execution, Gas,Death Penalties,Electrocutions, Judicial,Execution, Gas Chamber,Executions, Gas Chamber,Gas Chamber Executions,Hangings, Judicial,Injection, Lethal,Injections, Lethal,Judicial Electrocution,Judicial Electrocutions,Judicial Hanging,Judicial Hangings,Lethal Injections,Penalties, Death,Penalty, Death,Punishment, Capital,Punishments, Capital
D003416 Criminal Law A branch of law that defines criminal offenses, regulates the apprehension, charging and trial of suspected persons, and fixes the penalties and modes of treatment applicable to convicted offenders. Criminal Justice,Criminal Laws,Justice, Criminal,Law, Criminal,Laws, Criminal
D003657 Decision Making The process of making a selective intellectual judgment when presented with several complex alternatives consisting of several variables, and usually defining a course of action or an idea. Credit Assignment,Assignment, Credit,Assignments, Credit,Credit Assignments
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D001290 Attitude An enduring, learned predisposition to behave in a consistent way toward a given class of objects, or a persistent mental and/or neural state of readiness to react to a certain class of objects, not as they are but as they are conceived to be. Sentiment,Attitudes,Opinions,Opinion,Sentiments
D016009 Chi-Square Distribution A distribution in which a variable is distributed like the sum of the squares of any given independent random variable, each of which has a normal distribution with mean of zero and variance of one. The chi-square test is a statistical test based on comparison of a test statistic to a chi-square distribution. The oldest of these tests are used to detect whether two or more population distributions differ from one another. Chi-Square Test,Chi Square Distribution,Chi Square Test,Chi-Square Distributions,Chi-Square Tests,Distribution, Chi-Square,Distributions, Chi-Square,Test, Chi-Square,Tests, Chi-Square
D016013 Likelihood Functions Functions constructed from a statistical model and a set of observed data which give the probability of that data for various values of the unknown model parameters. Those parameter values that maximize the probability are the maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters. Likelihood Ratio Test,Maximum Likelihood Estimates,Estimate, Maximum Likelihood,Estimates, Maximum Likelihood,Function, Likelihood,Functions, Likelihood,Likelihood Function,Maximum Likelihood Estimate,Test, Likelihood Ratio

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