Judicial Decision Making: Is Psychology Relevant?

In the mid-1970s, as a social psychologist dedicated to the application of knowledge, I welcomed our field's emerging interest in the legal system. I have always been fascinated by jury trials-something about the idea that two conceptions of the truth were in irrevocable conflict and jurors could choose only one of them. More important, the criminal justice system is a major social force that has been ignored by social psychologists for most of the twentieth century. As I systematically beg...