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Reducing the Hindsight Bias Utilizing Attorney Closing Arguments

Reducing the Hindsight Bias Utilizing Attorney Closing Arguments In the legal system, jurors are asked to render a decision after the event in question has already occurred and the final outcome, typically negative, is known. This “after-the-fact” structure of the legal system makes jurors susceptible to a human judgment phenomenon known as hindsight bias. This study focused on reducing hindsight bias in a courtroom context by incorporating a debiasing strategy within the defense's closing argument. Subjects viewed one of three videotaped versions of plaintiff and defense closing arguments in a commercial litigation case (i.e., foresight condition, hindsight condition, and hindsight debiasing condition). Results indicate that the hindsight debiasing strategy was effective in reducing subject-juror hindsight bias. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Law and Human Behavior Springer Journals

Reducing the Hindsight Bias Utilizing Attorney Closing Arguments

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References (31)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 by Plenum Publishing Corporation
Subject
Psychology; Law and Psychology; Criminology and Criminal Justice, general; Personality and Social Psychology; Community and Environmental Psychology
ISSN
0147-7307
eISSN
1573-661X
DOI
10.1023/A:1025706823554
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

In the legal system, jurors are asked to render a decision after the event in question has already occurred and the final outcome, typically negative, is known. This “after-the-fact” structure of the legal system makes jurors susceptible to a human judgment phenomenon known as hindsight bias. This study focused on reducing hindsight bias in a courtroom context by incorporating a debiasing strategy within the defense's closing argument. Subjects viewed one of three videotaped versions of plaintiff and defense closing arguments in a commercial litigation case (i.e., foresight condition, hindsight condition, and hindsight debiasing condition). Results indicate that the hindsight debiasing strategy was effective in reducing subject-juror hindsight bias.

Journal

Law and Human BehaviorSpringer Journals

Published: Oct 2, 2004

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