The effect of jury deliberations on jurors' reasoning skills

The effect of jury deliberation on jurors' reasoning skill in a murder tria l was examined. Specifically, the effect of deliberating on reasoning compe tence (as defined by Kuhn, Weinstock and Flaton, 1994) was explored. One hu ndred and four participants viewed a videotaped murder trial and either del iberated in 12-person juries or ruminated on the case individually. Among t hose assigned to juries, half had their reasoning skill assessed prior to d eliberations, while the others were tested after deliberating. Jurors in th e individual rumination condition were assessed after they had the opportun ity to reflect on the case alone. As hypothesized, post-group-deliberation jurors were more likely to discount both the selected verdict and alternati ve theories and incorporate judgmental supporting statements than were the other mock jurors. However, the mock jurors did not differ with regard to m aking statements that supported alternative verdicts or including judgmenta l statements that discounted their chosen verdict. In terms of Kuhn's reaso ning continuum from satisficing (low level) to theory-evidence coordination (high level), there is some evidence that post-group deliberation jurors m ay be closer to the high end than predeliberation jurors or post-individual -rumination jurors in some aspects of the task but not in others.