Truthiness and law: Nonprobative photos bias perceived credibility in forensic contexts
Corresponding Author
Daniel G. Derksen
Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Correspondence
Daniel G. Derksen, Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, RCB 5246, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada.
Email: dgderkse@sfu.ca
Search for more papers by this authorMegan E. Giroux
Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorDeborah A. Connolly
Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorEryn J. Newman
Research School of Psychology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Search for more papers by this authorDaniel M. Bernstein
Department of Psychology, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Daniel G. Derksen
Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Correspondence
Daniel G. Derksen, Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, RCB 5246, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada.
Email: dgderkse@sfu.ca
Search for more papers by this authorMegan E. Giroux
Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorDeborah A. Connolly
Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorEryn J. Newman
Research School of Psychology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Search for more papers by this authorDaniel M. Bernstein
Department of Psychology, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Search for more papers by this authorWe dedicate this work to Alan Scoboria.
Funding information: Canada Research Chairs, Grant/Award Number: 950-228407; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Grant/Award Number: 435-2015-0721; the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship
Summary
Nonprobative but related photos can increase the perceived truth value of statements relative to when no photo is presented (truthiness). In two experiments, we tested whether truthiness generalizes to credibility judgments in a forensic context. Participants read short vignettes in which a witness viewed an offence. The vignettes were presented with or without a nonprobative, but related photo. In both experiments, participants gave higher witness credibility ratings to photo-present vignettes compared to photo-absent vignettes. In Experiment 2, half the vignettes included additional nonprobative information in the form of text. We replicated the photo presence effect in Experiment 2, but the nonprobative text did not significantly alter witness credibility. The results suggest that nonprobative photos can increase the perceived credibility of witnesses in legal contexts.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
Experiment 1:The data that supports these findings are publicly available in OSF at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/GEXUQ (Derksen, Giroux, Connolly, Newman, & Bernstein, 2019a).Experiment 2:The data that supports these findings are publicly available in OSF at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/49GNH (Derksen, Giroux, Connolly, Newman, & Bernstein, 2019b).
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