COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Jurors' Use of Scientific Information

University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln NE

Investigators

Abstract

Juries often rely on and interpret evidence based on scientific research when making decisions in civil and criminal cases. The validity and reliability of scientific information varies, yet jurors generally are non-experts who do not possess the necessary tools to differentiate between weak and strong scientific information when making decisions. To assess the issue of interpretation of scientific evidence in court, this project uses an experimental approach to examine jurors' ability to interpret and act on scientific evidence. To do so, this project consists of jury simulations that will examine jurors' and juries' sensitivity to strong versus weak scientific information presented in court. The project includes two jury simulation experiments designed to test whether fuzzy trace theory, a well-developed theory in cognitive science, applies in the context of jury research, particularly when compared to other safeguards for jury decision making with respect to scientific evidence. This multidisciplinary, multi-method research will examine when and how jurors' inferences are appropriately calibrated to the strength of scientific information, whether a safeguard derived from decision-making theory can improve that calibration, and how various measures relevant to the processing of scientific information are related to one another. The project addresses fundamental questions about how humans reason with and make inferences and decisions based on the quality of relevant scientific data.