The Effect of Jury Deliberations on Jurors' Reasoning Skills

The effect of jury deliberation on jurors' reasoning skill in a murder trial was examined. Specifically, the effect of deliberating on reasoning competence (as defined by Kuhn, Weinstock and Flaton, 1994) was explored. One hundred and four participants viewed a videotaped murder trial and either deliberated in 12-person juries or ruminated on the case individually. Among those assigned to juries, half had their reasoning skill assessed prior to deliberations, while the others were tested after deliberating. Jurors in the individual rumination condition were assessed after they had the opportunity to reflect on the case alone. As hypothesized, post-group-deliberation jurors were more likely to discount both the selected verdict and alternative theories and incorporate judgmental supporting statements than were the other mock jurors. However, the mock jurors did not differ with regard to making statements that supported alternative verdicts or including judgmental statements that discounted their chosen verdict. In terms of Kuhn's reasoning continuum from satisficing (low level) to theory–evidence coordination (high level), there is some evidence that post-group-deliberation jurors may be closer to the high end than predeliberation jurors or post-individual-rumination jurors in some aspects of the task, but not in others.     

Anxiety and Depression Among Law Students: Current Knowledge and Future Directions

Increased psychology–law collaboration has yielded great strides over the past 20 years. However, one area of research that remains overlooked involves the psychological well-being of law students. The purpose of this article is to review and evaluate the existing literature on anxiety and depression among law students. This literature suggests that self-reports of anxiety and depression are significantly higher among law students than among either the general population or medical students. Recommendations for advancing knowledge in this area include developing hypothesis-driven research, using measures that adequately discriminate between anxiety and depression, and testing alternative hypotheses regarding the origins of law student distress.