Developing a Model of Jury Decision Making: The Influence of Group Dynamic Variables on Story Construction

过去的研究人员已经确定了个别陪审员决策的模型，其他研究人员也确定了影响群体决策过程的变量。然而，到目前为止，还没有一个统一的陪审团决策模式来解释这两个研究领域。该项目将首次将对群体过程的研究与对陪审团决策的故事模型(最广泛接受的陪审员决策模型)的研究相结合，以开始创建一个全面的陪审团决策模型的过程。模拟陪审员将观看重新制定的审判，然后审议做出裁决。审议将根据后勤、内容、复杂性以及陪审团是否创建统一的故事(以及他们讨论的故事数量)进行编码。经过商议，陪审员将分别回答几个关于他们在审判和审议过程中形成的故事的问题。调查员将使用这些定性和定量的方法来检查故事模型是否转化为集体决定，以及为什么陪审员在审议期间改变他们对证据、证人或判决的决定。该项目将为学生提供教、训、学、研一体化的社会科学学习机会。此外，这项研究的结果将广泛传播给可能接触到科学家的机构，以便进一步开展科学研究。它还将向律师、法官、警察和社区成员传播，以扩大对陪审团决策过程以及可以采取哪些措施来提高陪审团决策质量的了解。这项研究的结果将提供有关审议过程的有价值的信息，并将开始发展一种统一的陪审团决策理论，将我们所了解的陪审员个人决策过程与群体决策过程相结合。

Past researchers have identified models of individual juror decision making, and others have identified variables that influence the decision making processes of groups. However, to date, there is no unified model of jury decision making that accounts for both of these areas of research. This project will be the first to integrate research on group processes with research on the story model of jury decision making (the most widely accepted model of juror decision making) to begin the process of creating a comprehensive model of jury decision making. Mock jurors will view a re-enacted trial and then deliberate to a verdict. Deliberations will be coded for logistics, content, complexity, and whether juries create unified stories (and how many stories they discuss). After deliberation, jurors will individually answer several questions about the story they developed during trial and deliberation. The investigator will use these qualitative and quantitative measures to examine whether the story model translates to the group decision and why jurors change their decisions about evidence, witnesses, or verdict during deliberation. This project will provide opportunities for students to participate in social science in an integration of teaching, training, learning, and research. In addition, results of this research will be disseminated broadly to outlets likely to reach scientists in order to further scientific research. It will also be disseminated to attorneys, judges, police officers, and community members to expand understanding of the jury decision making process as well as what can be done to improve the quality of the jury's decision. The results of this research will provide valuable information about the deliberation process, and will begin the development of a unified theory of jury decision making that integrates what we know about the individual juror's decision making process with the group decision making process.