by Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: We tend to believe that we navigate our way through the world based on our own conscious choices, and this perception of free will is an important part of our identity and our world view. Experienced litigators know that this perception of choice also plays an important role in how jurors and […]
Expect Jurors to Exaggerate the Role of Choice Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It is easy to imagine what you are likely to hear in the first few moments of the defense opening when the case involves a serious injury or death: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, everyone here knows the pain and loss that Ms. Smith has experienced. It is a
Stop Introducing Your Defense Case By Asking Jurors to Set Aside Sympathy Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: Last week, in a blog article in the Huffington Post, screenwriter and columnist Robert J. Elisberg shared his trial diary from a two-week workplace injury case against the retailer Cost Plus. His notes included this observation, which is worth quoting at length: One of the oddest things of all is that, very
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: All decisions take place in a context. Change the context, and you’re often able to change the decision. Sometimes, that context is situational, like the current political campaign which is increasingly, and disturbingly, spilling over into violence. And sometimes, that context is physical, like the actual polling location where folks
Account for the Priming Effect of Location Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: At the heart of our thinking on persuasion, there is one depressing question: “Is it possible to persuade someone once they have dug in on a position?” The rational model would like to think so, and the law would like to think so as well. Give someone evidence, and you influence
Argue and Cross in a Way that Doesn’t Threaten Identity Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: I fly United Airlines on average a couple times a week. On a recent return home, I witnessed something remarkable before takeoff. All around me, people were watching the safety video! Contrast that with what is more typically the case: all the business people and vacationers chatting, reading, or taking
Break Through the Boredom Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The potential ability of jurors to pose a question to a witness by submitting that question first to a judge is a trial feature that always comes up in discussions of jury trial innovations and experimentation. But at a certain point, we really have to stop calling it an “innovation” or
Listen to Experience on Juror Questions Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: It should have been big victory for social science in the courtroom: Noting that lay jurors tend to give eyewitness testimony in criminal cases far more weight than it deserves, psychological researchers weighed in with recommendations, and remarkably, judges actually listened. In July of 2012, New Jersey’s judiciary adopted new jury
Beware of Instructions that Highlight but Don’t Correct Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: The current political campaign season is not just a source of entertainment or concern (depending on your level of seriousness about it); it is also a source of education on persuasion. One important new lesson comes from political consultant and public opinion researcher Mathew MacWilliams in a current essay in Politico.
Look Out for the Authoritarian Personality Read More »
By Dr. Ken Broda Bahm: If you’ve had young children, then you know that at a certain stage, watching the same movie over and over again with your kid comes with the territory. As much as the repetition might annoy you, the kids seem to love the familiarity and comfort of knowing exactly what is going
Repeat Yourself: (Carefully) Repeat Yourself Read More »