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Reasons Pro et Contra as a Debiasing Technique in Legal Contexts.
Frank Zenker1, Christian Dahlman2, Rasmus Bååth3
1Department of Philosophy and Cognitive Science, 5193 Lund University , Lund, Sweden; Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Philosophy, Bratislava, Slovakia; Department of Philosophy, Konstanz University, Konstanz, Germany.
Psychological Reports
|January 5, 2018
Summary
This study tested a debiasing technique with Swedish judges. Professional judges showed a small bias reduction, while lay judges were more influenced by prior convictions.
Area of Science:
- Legal Psychology
- Cognitive Bias Research
Background:
- Legal decision-making is susceptible to cognitive biases.
- Effective debiasing techniques for legal contexts are under-explored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally evaluate the "giving reasons pro et contra" debiasing technique.
- To assess the impact of professional versus lay judges on bias in legal reasoning.
Main Methods:
- Deployment of the "giving reasons pro et contra" technique in a mock legal scenario.
- Participants included 239 professional judges and 372 lay judges at Swedish municipal courts.
- Assessment focused on the relevance of an eyewitness's prior conviction for credibility.
Main Results:
- Both professional and lay judges exhibited low average bias.
- A small, positive debiasing effect was observed exclusively in professional judges.
- Lay judges assigned significantly greater importance to prior convictions than professional judges.
Conclusions:
- The "giving reasons pro et contra" technique shows potential for debiasing professional judges.
- Differences in professional experience influence how prior convictions affect credibility assessments.
- Further research with larger, diverse samples is needed to confirm findings.
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