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PSYCHOLOGICAL JURISPRUDENCE AND THE INFORMATION PROCESSING PARADIGM

NCJ Number
141549
Journal
Behavioral Sciences and the Law Volume: 11 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1993) Pages: 79-96
Author(s)
R L Wiener; B A Watts; D P Stolle
Date Published
1993
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This empirical review of psycholegal research examines the empirical support for a normative foundation of psychological jurisprudence.
Abstract
After summarizing the value positions that are central to a jurisprudence that emphasizes the role of law in the everyday lives of individuals, the analysis considers the interaction between the tenets of that philosophy and the paradigmatic content of psycholegal research. The authors propose that one dominant perspective, information processing, assumes that legal actors are imperfect processors of social information, documents biases, and proposes ways for the law to minimize shortcomings in human cognition. The information processing paradigm in psychology and the law is then illustrated using three recent studies. The discussion next examines the abstracts from the last 5 years of empirical research to demonstrate the existence of a representative body of information processing research in psychology and the law. A sample of cognitive and social cognitive studies are also examined with respect to the scientific and normative issues involved. The analysis concludes with recommendations for jurisprudential theorists and psycholegal researchers, integrating the philosophy of psychology and law with its empirical basis. Tables and 34 references (Author abstract modified)

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