Journal of Psychiatry

Impressions and inferences; how intensity and delay impact the effect of prejudicial information?

4^th Euro-Global Congress on Psychiatrists & Forensic Psychology

November 10-11, 2016 Alicante, Spain

Vanessa Delle-Vergini and Donald Thomson

Deakin University School of Psychology, Australia

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Psychiatry

Abstract:

â??Trial by mediaâ?? is an ubiquitous term that refers to the extensive and occassionally prejudicial coverage that certain legal proceedings receive by various media and news outlets. As the recent case of â??Hey Dad!â?? star Robert Hughes demonstrates, such publicity can exist years before a case comes before a court, in the name of free press. However, such publicity may have dangerous consequences for legal due process and the right to a fair trial. Over the years, psychological research has become concerned with the mechanisms by which individuals may process and interpret pre-trial publicity, including impression formation and making inferences. In particular, there is strong evidence to suggest that pre-trial publicity has significant biasing effects on juror decision-making, and that one of the most common judicially-constructed remedies â?? instructions to the jury to disregard such prejudicial information â?? is largely ineffective in negating this effect. The rise of social media and the instant sharing of information makes the issue of avoiding such publicity even more pertinent. However, research to date has typically utilised a limited amount of exposure to prejudicial information, and has not considered the impact of time delay. The current study aimed to investigate how prolonged exposure to prejudicial information, including misinformation and pre-trial publicity, affects impressions, inferences, and juror decision-making. In addition, it aimed to investigate the impact of delay between exposure to the prejudicial material and the making of these judgments. Lastly, it was examined whether instructions to disregard the prejudicial information were effective across these different conditions.

Biography :

Email: vjde@deakin.edu.au