The dynamics of witness confidence effects on juror judgments

虽然心理学家和刑事司法专业人士一致认为，证人的信心是影响陪审员判断的主要因素之一，但之前的研究人员将信心视为一种不变的证词特征，这意味着我们实际上对证人信心的影响知之甚少。这项研究测试了社会说服理论，并揭示了真实证人所特有的那种信心波动对陪审员判断和判决的动态影响。了解这种波动将如何影响陪审员的判断，对于法官（在指导陪审员时）以及警察和律师在评估他们打算传唤的证人可能产生的影响时至关重要。

While psychologists and criminal justice professionals concur that eyewitness confidence is one of the major influences on juror judgments, previous researchers' treatment of confidence as an invariant testimonial characteristic means that we actually know little about the impact of witness confidence. This research tests social persuasion theories and reveals the dynamic effects on juror judgments and verdicts of the sort of confidence fluctuations that characterise real witnesses. Knowing how such fluctuations will shape jurors' judgments is vital for judges (when instructing jurors) and for police and lawyers when they assess the likely impact of the witnesses they intend to call.