Be a Juror
In this activity, the computer randomly assigns each participant to one of three different scenarios, in which the participant learns details of a crime. In the first scenario, the defendant provides testimony and argues he is not guilty. The second scenario is similar but also includes a statement that a witness saw the defendant commit the crime. In the third and final scenario, an attorney indicates that the witness was not wearing his glasses, thus his testimony may have been false.
You will be assigned to one of these conditions and you will be asked to make a judgment about the defendant’s guilt or innocence based on the summary of information you hear during the trial. After all of the students have participated, I will download the data and run statistics to see which condition is more likely to judge the defendant as guilty.
Please answer the following questions
What is the independent variable (i.e., what was manipulated)?
What is the dependent variable (i.e., what was measured)?
What is your hypothesis? Why is this your hypothesis? (Hint: Make a prediction about how the independent variable affects the dependent variable.)
