A Test of the Generalizability of a New Guilty Plea Decision-making Model Grounded in Fuzzy Trace Theory: A replication of Zottoli, Helm et al. (2023; Study 3)
Presentation Type
Poster
Faculty Advisor
Tina Zottoli
Access Type
Event
Start Date
26-4-2024 9:45 AM
End Date
26-4-2024 10:44 AM
Description
We tested the generalizability of a model recently proposed by Zottoli, Helm et al. (2023) regarding the plea decisions of defendants facing plea and potential trial sentences that both entail incarceration. The model predicts a step-like (vs. linear) relationship between plea discount and plea acceptance and was supported by results of experiments that manipulated plea discount and potential trial sentences in a drug-offense scenario. Using a second-person (“you”) perspective vignette, participants were asked to imagine themselves as a defendant charged with an assault crime involved in a bar fight altercation where the victim fell down a flight of steps and was seriously injured. The independent variables were guilt status (guilty vs innocent) and discount (ranging from .1 through .9), and the dependent variable was plea acceptance and probability of conviction. The potential trial sentence (PTS) was held constant at 9 years. Compared to Zottoli, Helm et al., (2023), we found higher true and false guilty plea rates for both guilty and innocent defendants. However, within the assault crime scenario, we were able to replicate the pattern seen in Zottoli et al. (2023) for the 9-year PTS condition. These data lend preliminary support to the potential generalizability of this new model of defendant decision-making. Future research will look to test the 18-year PTS condition to see whether the step-like function in plea acceptance rates are similar to those in Zottoli et al. (2023).
A Test of the Generalizability of a New Guilty Plea Decision-making Model Grounded in Fuzzy Trace Theory: A replication of Zottoli, Helm et al. (2023; Study 3)
We tested the generalizability of a model recently proposed by Zottoli, Helm et al. (2023) regarding the plea decisions of defendants facing plea and potential trial sentences that both entail incarceration. The model predicts a step-like (vs. linear) relationship between plea discount and plea acceptance and was supported by results of experiments that manipulated plea discount and potential trial sentences in a drug-offense scenario. Using a second-person (“you”) perspective vignette, participants were asked to imagine themselves as a defendant charged with an assault crime involved in a bar fight altercation where the victim fell down a flight of steps and was seriously injured. The independent variables were guilt status (guilty vs innocent) and discount (ranging from .1 through .9), and the dependent variable was plea acceptance and probability of conviction. The potential trial sentence (PTS) was held constant at 9 years. Compared to Zottoli, Helm et al., (2023), we found higher true and false guilty plea rates for both guilty and innocent defendants. However, within the assault crime scenario, we were able to replicate the pattern seen in Zottoli et al. (2023) for the 9-year PTS condition. These data lend preliminary support to the potential generalizability of this new model of defendant decision-making. Future research will look to test the 18-year PTS condition to see whether the step-like function in plea acceptance rates are similar to those in Zottoli et al. (2023).