Could someone please explain to me why is B incorrect? Thank you!
KatherineJanuary 23, 2019
Hi @Shiyi-Zhang,
Happy to help. The questions asks you to identify a hypothetical reform in trial procedure that the author would likely support as the best way to address the problem of jury inferential error.
To answer this questions, let’s look at the basic structure of the argument. The first two paragraphs describe the problem the author is identifying - juries make inferential errors in their decision-making due to variety of circumstances in a trial. The third paragraph describes how empirical research in cognitive psychology can help to understand the patterns of decision-making that would provide courts with a guide in assessing a jury’s inferential process. Finally, the last paragraph says that it is judge’s duty to minimize error. However, most judges only employ a limited concept of jury inferential error that does not consider the findings of cognitive psychologists.
What solution would the author likely support to address this problem of jury inferential error? Answer D is correct - the author would likely support a reform that provided judges with trainings in the area of jury instructions. Such trainings would incorporate the relevant research of cognitive psychologists. The argument suggests this reform when the author says in the third paragraph, that the research of cognitive psychologists, “may provide the courts with a guide†to evaluation jury’s processes.
By focusing on the judge’s duty to minimize jury error in the final paragraph, the author suggests that a reform should center on the judge’s role in this process. This helps you to eliminate options that propose reforms to the behavior of other system actors, like lawyers (Answer E), witnesses (Answer C), or the jurors themselves (Answer B). While the other answer pose reforms that could potentially address the problem, the questions asks you to choose the answer that the author would like support as the BEST way to address the problem. Because the third and final paragraph focus on the courts and judges, the correct answer is one that reforms judges’ behavior.
Answer B is tempting because it seems to most directly address the problem of jury inferential error (educate jurors!). However, you must consider the argument as a whole. The final paragraph is important because it suggests a solution - judges already have the duty to instruct jurors and minimize jury errors. They just aren't doing it very well because they only have a basic concept of inferential error that does not incorporate the research of cognitive psychologists. The solution is to train judges so they can perform this duty better.
