Weighing the Evidence
Judicial Ingroup Bias in the Shadow of Terrorism
Moses Shayo & Asaf Zussman
Quarterly Journal of Economics, August 2011, Pages 1447-1484
Abstract:
We study ingroup bias - the preferential treatment of members of one's group - in naturally occurring data, where economically significant allocation decisions are made under a strong non-discriminatory norm. Data come from Israeli small claims courts during 2000-2004, where the assignment of a case to an Arab or Jewish judge is effectively random. We find robust evidence for judicial ingroup bias. Furthermore, this bias is strongly associated with terrorism intensity in the vicinity of the court in the year preceding the ruling. The results are consistent with theory and lab evidence according to which salience of group membership enhances social identification.
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How many were there when it mattered? Estimating the sizes of crowds
Ray Watson & Paul Yip
Significance, September 2011, Pages 104-107
Abstract:
150 000 people demonstrated in Hong Kong. 10 000 students protested in London against tuition fees. A million people lined the streets for the Royal wedding. Or did they? Do not believe what you are told, say Ray Watson and Paul Yip. Estimating the size of a crowd is a difficult business - even for those who actually want to get it right.
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Excessive confidence in visually-based estimates
Eduardo Andrade
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, forthcoming
Abstract:
People exhibit excessive confidence in visually-based estimates, which in turn biases decision making. Three experiments support this assertion. Experiment 1 shows a strong impact of presentation format on estimation of proportions. Experiment 2 shows that people rely on these erroneous estimates to make incentive-compatible decisions even when objective information can be easily obtained. Experiment 3 demonstrates that the biased decisions disappear when confidence in visually-based estimates is called into question by the perceived complexity of the stimulus.
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Perception ≠ Reality: Analyzing Specific Allegations of NBA Referee Bias
Ryan Rodenberg
Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, 2011
Abstract:
The 2007 gambling scandal involving a National Basketball Association (NBA) referee, coupled with the NBA's follow-up investigation, put allegations of basketball referee bias in the spotlight. This paper analyzes specific allegations of bias by Miami Heat coach and general manager Pat Riley against NBA referees Steve Javie and Derrick Stafford. In the course of analyzing every referee who officiated a Miami Heat during a nine-year period, neither Javie nor Stafford exhibited systematic bias that had an adverse effect on the Miami Heat. In fact, the Heat performed slightly better than predicted when Javie officiated their games. The results provide real-world empirical evidence consistent with "confirmation bias," a theory grounded in the finding that individuals with a vested interest in certain self-justifying outcomes may reach generalized conclusions unsupported by actual evidence.
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Cynthia Najdowski
Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, forthcoming
Abstract:
Little theoretical attention has been paid to evidence that Blacks are overrepresented in samples of false confessors compared to Whites. One possible explanation is that innocent Black suspects experience stereotype threat in interrogations and that this threat causes Black suspects to experience more arousal, self-regulatory efforts, and cognitive load compared to White suspects. These psychological mechanisms could lead innocent Black suspects to display more nonverbal behaviors associated with deception and, ironically, increase the likelihood that police investigators perceive them as guilty. In response, investigators might engage in more coercive tactics and exert more pressure to confess on Black suspects than White suspects. This could increase the need to escape interrogation and the likelihood of doing so by confessing falsely more for Blacks than for Whites. I present these hypotheses within a social psychological framework, and discuss future directions for testing the model and theoretical and practical implications of such work.
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Higher Height, Higher Ability: Judgment Confidence as a Function of Spatial Height Perception
Yan Sun, Fei Wang & Shu Li
PLoS ONE, July 2011, e22125
Abstract:
Based on grounded cognition theories, the current study showed that judgments about ability were regulated by the subjects' perceptions of their spatial height. In Experiment 1, we found that after seeing the ground from a higher rather than lower floor, people had higher expectations about their performance on a knowledge test and assigned themselves higher rank positions in a peer comparison evaluation. In Experiment 2, we examined the boundary conditions of the spatial height effects and showed that it could still occur even if we employed photos rather than actual building floors to manipulate the perceptions of spatial heights. In addition, Experiment 2 excluded processing style as an explanation for these observations. In Experiment 3, we investigated a potential mechanism for the spatial height effect by manipulating the scale direction in the questionnaire. Consequently, consistent with our representational dependence account, the effect of spatial heights on ability judgments was eliminated when the mental representation of ability was disturbed by a reverse physical representation. These results suggest that people's judgments about their ability are correlated with their spatial perception.
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You can't see much in the dark: Darkness affects construal level and psychological distance
Anna Steidle, Lioba Werth & Eva-Verena Hanke Social
Psychology, Summer 2011, Pages 174-184
Abstract:
This article investigates the interplay between darkness, construal level, and psychological distance based on the link between environmental lighting conditions and visual perception. In the dark, visual perception becomes less focused and detailed, leading to more abstract representations. We argue that this link between physical darkness and a global perceptual processing style spills over to the conceptual level. In three experiments, darkness triggered a more global perceptual and conceptual processing style than did brightness, regardless of whether the darkness was physically manipulated or primed. Additionally, two Implicit Association Tests (IATs) showed that darkness is more strongly associated with high-level construal than with low-level construal. Moreover, drawing on the generalized link between construal level and psychological distance, we proposed that darkness is also linked to perceived psychological distance because the lack of detail information and the abstract representations in the dark remove objects and other persons from people's direct, detailed experience. Eight IATs confirmed the implicit link between darkness and four dimensions of psychological distance. These implications of these results are discussed with regard to thinking styles and social processes like stereotyping and cooperation.
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Pre- versus Postdecisional Deliberation and Goal Commitment: The Positive Effects of Defensiveness
Gergana Nenkov & Peter Gollwitzer
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Building on Gollwitzer's (1990) mindset theory of action phases, it is proposed that the effects of assigned balanced deliberation on subsequent goal commitment are moderated by people's pre- versus postdecisional status. A balanced deliberation and impartial assessment of pros and cons is expected to reduce goal commitment in predecisional individuals, whereas a distortion of the assigned balanced deliberation and a partial focus on the pros of goal pursuit should defend and strengthen goal commitment in postdecisional individuals. Indeed, in Study 1, assigned deliberation on the pros and cons of pursuing a focal goal promoted stronger reported goal commitment in participants who had decided to pursue this goal, but reduced goal commitment for people who had not yet made such a decision. In Study 2, the same pattern of results emerged when goal commitment was indicated by planning to act on the goal. Study 3 replicated findings using a different decision status manipulation and goal persistence as a measure of commitment. Finally, results of Study 4 suggested that the increase in commitment produced by defensive postdecisional deliberation is consequential as it was found to drive real-life behavior by promoting goal-directed action. Moreover, Studies 2, 3, and 4 explored the underlying process and provided evidence that it is the partial focus on the pros of goal pursuit, meant to defend existing goal commitment, that drives postdecisional deliberation's strengthening effects on goal commitment. Implications for mindset theory, goal commitment theory, and decision making are discussed.
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Getting to the Point: Attempting to Improve Juror Comprehension of Capital Penalty Phase Instructions
Amy Smith & Craig Haney
Law and Human Behavior, October 2011, Pages 339-350
Abstract:
This research examined the effects of several versions of capital penalty phase instructions on juror comprehension. Study One documented the impact of California's recently implemented "plain language" instruction. It showed that although the new instruction has clear advantages over the previous version, significant comprehension problems remain. Study Two evaluated several modified instructions designed to enhance comprehension. Participants heard either a standard patterned instruction or one of two alternatives - a psycholinguistically improved instruction, or a "pinpoint" instruction using case-related facts to illustrate key terms - in a simulated death penalty sentencing phase. Persons who heard modified instructions demonstrated higher levels of comprehension on virtually every measure as compared to those in the standard instruction condition.
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Evelyn Maeder & Jennifer Hunt
Behavioral Sciences & the Law, July/August 2011, Pages 608-620
Abstract:
To determine whether anti-Black bias influences mock jurors' use of character evidence (i.e., information about a defendant's personality), this study manipulated the race (Black, White) of the defendant and character witness and the type of character evidence presented in a fictitious criminal trial. Two hundred six predominantly White participants read a trial transcript, then made verdicts and trial judgments. Results confirm previous findings that positive character evidence has a limited impact on jurors' judgments, but negative character evidence is misused to evaluate the defendant's guilt. However, participants were more influenced by character evidence that was inconsistent with racial stereotypes. Specifically, positive character evidence had a stronger effect for Black defendants, whereas negative rebuttal evidence had a stronger influence for White defendants. The race of the character witness did not affect judgments. Thus, defendant race may provide a framework that influences how mock jurors process character evidence.
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Social audiences can disrupt learning by teaching
Jonathan Herberg, Daniel Levin & Megan Saylor
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
To investigate the effect of a social audience on learning-by-teaching, we examined participants' solutions of the 4-ring Tower of Hanoi problem after they demonstrated the 3-ring problem to a social agent (a person) or a non-social agent (a computer). In Experiments 1 and 2 participants produced less optimal solutions of the 4-ring problem after demonstrating the 3-ring problem to a social agent. An analysis of pointing behavior demonstrated that social highlighting contributed substantially to this effect. Together, these findings indicate that more social highlighting may produce a cost, rather than a benefit, on how deeply the demonstrator encodes the problem solution. Experiment 3 clarified that these results were not simply caused by the disruptions inherent to social highlighting. Taken together, the results suggest that social highlighting does not come for free - producing the highlighting may lead to more shallow encoding of demonstrated actions.
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The effects of group monitoring on fatigue-related Einstellung during mathematical problem solving
Daniel Frings
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, forthcoming
Abstract:
Fatigue resulting from sleep deficit can lead to decreased performance in a variety of cognitive domains and can result in potentially serious accidents. The present study aimed to test whether fatigue leads to increased Einstellung (low levels of cognitive flexibility) in a series of mathematical problem-solving tasks. Many situations involving fatigue and problem solving also involve people working in teams. However, little research has considered the role of social processes in managing the effects of fatigue. Research into the group monitoring hypothesis suggests that membership in a team can offset the effects of impairing factors such as fatigue upon performance. Thus, the present study also aimed to test whether group membership exacerbates or ameliorates the negative effects of fatigue. During the course of a weekend military training exercise, participants (N = 171) attempted to solve a series of problems either alone or in a team, and while either reasonably alert (nonfatigued) or fatigued through sleep deficit. Fatigued problem solvers working alone showed increased Einstellung. In contrast, and in line with the group monitoring hypothesis, teams of fatigued problem solvers did not experience increased Einstellung. The present study also showed that teams with a group member who was relatively less fatigued experienced less Einstellung than other groups. These effects persisted even once participants were cued toward more direct strategies. These findings highlight the risk of Einstellung when fatigued and also the importance of team membership with reference to problem solving in an occupational context.
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The south beach study: Bystanders' memories are more malleable
Marianna Carlucci et al.
Applied Cognitive Psychology, July/August 2011, Pages 562-566
Abstract:
People's reports are affected by what others say. The current study compared memory conformity effects of people who interacted with a confederate, and of bystanders to that interaction. A second goal was to observe if memory conformity occurs in a naturalistic setting. A male confederate approached a group of people at the beach and had a brief interaction. About a minute later a research assistant approached the group and administered a target-absent lineup to each person in the group. Memory conformity was observed. Bystanders were twice as likely to conform as those who interacted with the confederate. Forensic investigators should take into consideration the role a person plays in an event when assessing eyewitness evidence.