The Emotional Influence of Gruesome Photographs in the Courtroom

法庭上可怕照片的情感影响

• 批准号: 1556612
• 负责人: Jessica Salerno
• 金额: $ 27万
• 依托单位: Arizona State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-07-01 至 2022-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1556612&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Emotional; Influence; Gruesome; Photographs; Courtroom

Visual images depicting a criminal act can strongly influence judgments about blame and punishment. In the past decade, the use of visual evidence and arguments in courtrooms has exploded, but empirical research on the effects of these tools on legal decision-making has just begun. Lawyers, judges, and juries are faced with a barrage of images, often gruesome in nature. When determining whether to exclude gruesome photographs, judges must decide whether the prejudicial effect outweighs their probative value. This project addresses the legally relevant question of how and why gruesome photographs increase guilt and punishment judgments to better inform judges' admissibility decisions. More specifically, this project examines how emotionally evocative images can pose a danger of unfair prejudice by making jurors more conviction-prone--even when the images do not provide additional probative information. This is achieved by exploring the effect of gruesome photographs on mock jurors' physiological and emotional response to the evidence, attention to other case evidence, and the jury deliberation process. The research will also test the effectiveness of several realistic and relatively simple legal safeguards that might mitigate the prejudicial effects of gruesome photographs without sacrificing their probative information (i.e., substituting black-and-white photographs, jury instructions, deliberation). The implications will extend beyond courtrooms to inform recent broader societal questions about whether the public should be exposed to graphic images of harm to inform policy debates, such as images of school shootings, police shootings, or torture of U.S. military detainees.This project brings together an interdisciplinary team to conduct three experiments testing whether viewing gruesome photographs increases negative emotion, which in turn biases jurors' attention to other case evidence in a pro-prosecution direction, which ultimately increases their confidence in a guilty verdict and greater punitiveness. Jury-eligible adults will view evidence from a murder trial that includes either no gruesome photographs, B&W gruesome photographs, or color gruesome photographs of the murder victim and then will make legal judgments about the case. Participants' physiological emotional responses will be monitored throughout the process. This project represents the first investigation of gruesome images on legal decision making that incorporates jury-level outcomes, physiological monitoring, visual attention to other evidence, and the dynamics of the group deliberation process. Identifying specific psychological mechanisms by which photographs influence judgments (emotional responses, attention to other evidence, deliberation processes) will inform legal doctrine by clarifying the circumstances under which these photographs are likely to result in unfair prejudice.

描绘犯罪行为的视觉图像可以强烈影响对责备和惩罚的判断。在过去的十年中，在法庭上使用视觉证据和论点已经爆炸，但是对这些工具对法律决策的影响的实证研究才刚刚开始。律师，法官和陪审团面临着一系列图像，通常本质上令人毛骨悚然。在确定是否排除可怜的照片时，法官必须决定偏见效应是否超过其证明价值。该项目解决了与法律相关的问题，即如何以及为什么可怕的照片增加了内gui和惩罚判断，以更好地告知法官的可接受性决定。更具体地说，该项目研究了情感令人回味的图像如何通过使陪审员更容易定罪来构成不公平偏见的危险 - 即使图像没有提供其他证明信息。这是通过探索可怕照片对模拟陪审员对证据的生理和情感反应的影响，对其他案例证据的关注以及陪审团审议过程来实现的。这项研究还将测试几种现实且相对简单的法律保障措施的有效性，这些保障措施可能会减轻可怕照片的偏见影响而不牺牲其证明信息（即代替黑白照片，陪审团的指示，审议）。 The implications will extend beyond courtrooms to inform recent broader societal questions about whether the public should be exposed to graphic images of harm to inform policy debates, such as images of school shootings, police shootings, or torture of U.S. military detainees.This project brings together an interdisciplinary team to conduct three experiments testing whether viewing gruesome photographs increases negative emotion, which in turn biases jurors' attention to other case evidence in a pro-prosecution方向，最终增加了他们对有罪判决和更大的惩罚性的信心。陪审团符合条件的成年人将通过谋杀案审判中查看证据，其中包括没有可怕的照片，b＆w可怕的照片或谋杀受害者的彩色可怕照片，然后对案件做出法律判断。参与者的生理情感反应将在整个过程中受到监测。该项目代表了有关法律决策制定的可怕图像的首次调查，该图像结合了陪审团级别的结果，生理监测，视觉关注对其他证据以及小组审议过程的动态。通过阐明这些照片可能会导致这些照片可能导致不公平的偏见的情况，确定照片影响判断的特定心理机制（情感反应，关注其他证据，审议过程）将为法律学说提供信息。