Guest lecture by Dr. Rima-Maria Rahal on cognitive processes in legal decision making
On October 28th, students in the applied social psychology master’s program at the Higher School of Economics were treated to a guest lecture by Dr. Rima-Maria Rahal, a professor at the Max Planck Institute, on cognitive processes in legal decision making.
In the lecture, Dr. Rahal provided wonderful breakdowns of several key concepts in decision making which, as she highlighted herself, is a critically important topic as we constantly face decisions and the ability to predict such decisions is a particularly useful skill in our daily lives. She provided several interesting examples of everyday situations to which these ideas might be applied, such as the choice of numbers on a lottery ticket or the context effect present when choosing between differently priced wines. Most informative, however, was Dr. Rahal’s talk on her own work with eye-tracking. She provided such examples as research into moral dilemmas, building upon the classic trolley problem and including personal insights of her own regarding the controversy surrounding a law in Germany, and more practical applications such as the obligation to pay damages in a legal setting. All of her examples offered a fascinating glimpse into the research currently being conducted and helped to clearly explain the underlying process theories under consideration.
Following the lecture, several interesting questions were asked during the Q&A session. One question was posed regarding the potential differences that might be found if Dr. Rahal had conducted her research on other cultures, outside of Germany. She explained that at present, this was difficult, due to the need for eye-tracking experiments to be performed in a laboratory setting but expressed optimism at developments in home eye-tracking technology and the potential for these tools to be used in broader settings. She continued to provide an interesting example of one potentially key difference that she had found in her own research, that of the legal experience. A study that she had attempted to run on this subject involving legal students was highlighted and, although it had ultimately not been carried out, illustrated an interesting tangent for future research.
Another question was asked regarding the influence of prejudice in legal decision making, to which Dr. Rahal offered her own ideas for practical ways to address the issue. She outlined methods used to debias individuals, mentioning examples such as training programs in the US and their potential application to judges. The difficulties inherent in hiding the person being judged were also addressed, with Dr. Rahal explaining that while on the one hand, such an action can reduce prejudice, on the other, it may reduce the weight of the decision for those delivering a verdict. In conclusion, she shared the possibility of applying her own field interest in eye-tracking to future interventions.
A final question concerned the location of visual stimuli in attracting our attention, which Dr. Rahal explained was a bottom-up approach, whereas the previous examples had been top-down, or goal-oriented. She offered several examples of differing effects, such as salience based on color, size, position, or difference from other stimuli, with a mention specifically of differences between languages. One particularly interesting effect highlighted was that of interruption, with people more likely to choose an option that was being observed at the moment of interruption.
In short, Dr. Rahal’s lecture was an incredibly enlightening and inspiring look into the work being conducted in the field of psychology today. The constant reference to real-world applications of the concepts she explained only strengthened the conviction that she is performing vitally important work in the sphere. Her future research, such as the study of inadmissible evidence in criminal cases that was mentioned, is certain to continue to drive innovation both within the field of psychology and without in the real world.