The UTC Graduate School is pleased to announce that Skylar Oxford will present Master's research titled,  CAN JURY INSTRUCTIONS REDUCE THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF PRETRIAL PUBLICITY? on 02/28/2024 at 12:00 PM- 1:30 PM in 540 McCallie Building Room 394 . Everyone is invited to attend. 

Psychology

Chair: Dr. Amye Warren

Co-Chair: 

Abstract:

The increasing prevalence of pretrial publicity (PTP), media coverage of a case that occurs prior to a trial, raises concerns about fair trials. Jurors may rely on pretrial information rather than trial information to decide the fate of a defendant and may even confuse the sources of the information. While it is difficult to limit jurors’ exposure to PTP, jury instructions to improve memory for trial information may limit these effects. Participants (N=100) read negative PTP articles about a defendant. A week later, they were randomly assigned to jury instruction conditions (notetaking, question-posing, or standard) and watched a trial video about the case. Mock jurors who took notes and asked questions during the trial video were significantly better at remembering trial statements and attributing trial and pretrial information to its source than jurors who received standard instructions. However, instruction condition didn’t influence the number of guilty verdicts rendered.