By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: As you begin reading this post, please don’t think about the white bear. Seriously, don’t think about it. Did that work? Or are you now thinking about the white bear even more? That is the classic example in psychology research on the counterproductive effect of “thought suppression” instructions. Test subjects given […]
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: My computer and I are currently fighting. In my Dell laptop’s fragile state, even the simplest actions can result in a freeze, or one of those inscrutable Microsoft messages, like “the instruction at 0x00630522 referenced memory at 0x04d92670 and the memory could not be ‘read’”(as if that information helps the typical user:
With Computers and Witnesses, Expect Memory Errors Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: As we enter the 20th day of protesters’ continued occupation of Wall Street, and sit-ins spread to similar sites across the country, what stands out the most is the sheer variety of their causes. The first declaration to emerge from the Wall Street encampment highlights concerns ranging from home foreclosures, to government bailouts, faulty products, medical
Bad Company: Investigate the Sources of Anti-Corporate Attitudes Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Rushing into the courtroom, late in returning from a break, the lawyer stood before the already seated jury, red-faced, but with a self-deprecating smile. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is what every lawyer fears, and I’m truly…mortified to have kept you waiting.” And the jury responded not with irritation, but with
Don’t Be Afraid of a Little Humiliation in the Courtroom Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – Aristotle, the original philosopher of communication, wrote in The Nicomachean Ethics about “the Golden Mean, ” or the idea that virtue is often a happy medium between two vices (for example, courage is the virtue wedged between the vices of recklessness on the one hand, and cowardice on the other). More
Aim Your Damages, And Your Case, at “The Golden Mean” Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – In the pivotal scene of “My Cousin Vinnie,” a movie beloved by those who follow legal persuasion, the defense attorney, played by Joe Pesci, asks the judge permission to treat his now estranged girlfriend as a hostile witness. This is a request that the judge, with a knowing look, quickly
Diagnose Your Difficult Witness Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – In a recent viral video on YouTube an old couple peers into a computer webcam, trying to figure out how to operate the device, not realizing that they are recording themselves. Beyond providing a charming vignette, the clip might also be seen as a window into the future of the American jury.
Account for the Graying of Your Jury Pool Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – Crowds can be scary things. At a debate this past Monday (September 9th), Republican Presidential candidate, Ron Paul, was asked if his stance against government mandated health insurance would dictate denying care to a hypothetical man who found himself in a coma without the benefit of catastrophic health insurance. “Are you
Protect Your Jury From the Poison of the Crowd Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – Judges, arbitrators, mediators: legally trained and neutral minds, without the juror’s baggage of selective perception, predisposition, and bias, right? Not really. In the previous two posts on motivated thinking and instrumental argument, I wrote that an audience’s reasoning and advocacy is driven by emotions and not just by logic. While a jury’s decision making
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm – Your case has finally gone to the jury, and the panel is now ensconced in the jury room. What are they doing in there? Are they carefully and logically arguing the merits of your case, considering all sides until the truth wins out? If you have ever watched a closed-circuit feed of mock jury deliberations,
No Blank Slate (Part 2): In Closing, Treat Your Jurors as Instrumental Arguers Read More »