ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to familiarize the reader with the technique that was used for obtaining information about juries’ behavior. It focuses on the jury in criminal cases involving a defense of insanity. Professor Fred L. Strodtbeck originated the idea of conducting jury experiments within the institutional context of the court. He first introduced the technique in his study of civil juries. The basic idea underlying the use of experimental juries is that it permits the same stimulus, namely a recorded trial, to be played over and over again before many different juries. The decision to conduct the jury experiments within the institutional context in which the behavior usually occurs, namely, the courtroom as opposed to the laboratory, added to the realism of the experience. Changes in the experimental trial were introduced as a function of two variables: rules of law and information about commitment.
