UMD Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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    Evidence and Expectations: A Look into How DNA Impacts Jury Decisions in Criminal Trials
    (2009) Rothe, Lauren Frances; Paternoster, Raymond; Criminology and Criminal Justice; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Using DNA evidence in the courtroom is a practice that has increased over the last twenty years (Lieberman et al., 2008). Past research has shown that the mere presence of this scientific evidence in prosecutorial arguments increases the likelihood of a guilty verdict, even if the information has been severely mishandled (Lieberman et al., 2008). This study uses previously collected mock jury data to determine the effects, if any, mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA testimony has on a juror's perceived importance and understanding of the trial proceedings. The original trial this study was based on resulted in a guilty decision. Therefore, for the purposes of this study, "guilty" is considered a reliable outcome. The following also addresses the extent of group influences on the decision making process using juror thoughts regarding the verdict before and after deliberations. The study finds a positive effect between importance/understanding and the propensity to find the defendant guilty. Also, little group effects were found before and after deliberation, revealing consistency in juror thought.
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    Social Exclusion and the Choice of Important Groups
    (2009) Fishman, Shira; Kruglanski, Arie W.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Social connections are fundamental to our existence. As a result, social exclusion is a painful and distressing experience. When belonging is thwarted, people seek inclusion which can be achieved through group membership. Thus, excluded individuals and/or those whose need to belong is particularly strong will be particularly motivated to join groups. Moreover, to the extent that the need to belong is satisfied by closeness with other group members, and closeness is a feature of group cohesion, excluded individuals or ones with a strong need to belong are likely to be attracted to highly cohesive groups. Finally, the subjective importance of a group to its members should determine the degree of perceived cohesion. Importance of a group is defined as the group's centrality to individuals' social identity. The more central a given dimension is to one's identity, the greater the attraction to individuals sharing that dimension (Byrne, 1961). Hence, the more important the group, the greater the attraction of the members to each other, defining group cohesion. Ultimately then, the greater the individuals' prior experience of exclusion or the greater their need to belong, the greater their motivation should be to join important (vs. less important) groups. These notions are investigated in the present dissertation. A review of the literature on social exclusion and the similarity-attraction hypothesis is presented followed by two studies showing that, both in the lab and in the real world, individuals who have been socially excluded want to join and/or feel more connected to important groups.