Considering the Harshest Verdict First

Biasing effects of considering the harshest verdict first in a murder trial were studied in two separate experiments. The order in which possible verdicts were considered was predicted to bias subsequent hypothesis testing in the direction of the first verdict considered. Thus, it was predicted that participants who were instructed to consider possible final verdicts in an order from harshest to most lenient, as is usually done in actual murder trials, would render significantly harsher verdicts than those who were instructed to consider lenient verdicts first. The hypothesis was supported in both experiments, and the results are explained in terms of Kruglanski and Freund's (1983) cognition-generation freezing process as well as Snyder and Swann's (1978a, 1978b) notion of a confirmatory bias in hypothesis testing.