Abstract
A total of 180 jurors from the Kings County, New York, Jury Assembly room served as mock jurors in a murder trial presented on videotape. Subjects were randomly assigned to cells of a 2 by 2 design which varied jury size (6 vs. 12) and verdict decision rule (majority vs. unanimous). An ANOVA showed that jury verdicts became more severe as a result of deliberating in the smaller jury and under majority rule. The majority decision rule clearly resulted in more convictions. Empirical support for the smaller size jury effect was limited.
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Reference Notes
Buckhout, R. The U.S. Supreme Court vs. social Science: The jury (Report No. CR-28). Brooklyn, N.Y: Brooklyn College, Center for Responsive Psychology, April 1977.
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Buckhout, R., Weg, S., Frohboese, R., & Reilly, V. Jury verdicts: Six vs. 12 person juries, unanimous vs. majority decision rule in a murder trial (Report No. CR-12). Brooklyn, N.Y: Brooklyn College, Center for Responsive Psychology, April 1977.
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An early report of this research was presented to the Eastern Psychological Association, New York, Apri115, 1975. This research was supported (in part) by a grant from the Faculty Research Award Program of the City University of New York.
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Buckhout, R., Weg, S., Reilly, V. et al. Jury verdicts: Comparison of 6- vs. 12-person juries and unanimous vs. majority decision rule in a murder trial. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 10, 175–178 (1977). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03329315
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03329315