A Distinct Role for Perceived Realism in Juror Decision Making

Jurors evaluate evidence in a case based on their common sense and experience, implicating some form of memory. Cognitive psychologists traditionally study explicit memory in episodic and semantic forms. However, juror decision making researchers emphasize narrative models in which jurors evaluate how realistic the proposed story is compared to real world events. To assess how perceived realism and explicit recall affect juror decisions, jury-eligible subjects (N = 83) read mock criminal cases, rating the strength of each case. Participants also reported their ability to recall a similar case (autobiographical recall), their knowledge of similar cases (factual recall), and the perceived realism of the case. Perceived realism was the most influential component of mock-juror decisions. Additional analyses identified two contributions of perceived realism: a common factor combining realism with memory recall and an independent factor. These findings support the hypothesis that complex decisions rely on perceived realism based on memory retrieval.