Document Type

Working Paper

Publication Date

6-5-2013

SSRN Discipline

Economics Research Network; Legal Scholarship Network; Law School Research Papers - Legal Studies; Litigation, Procedure & Dispute Resolution eJournals; LSN Subject Matter eJournals; Cognitive Science Network; ERN Subject Matter eJournals; Law, Brain & Behavior eJournals

Abstract

Behavioral economics has been applied to evidence law in at least four different ways 1 to explain or justify current law 2 to argue that current law counteracts or fails to counteract the findings 3 to advocate changes in practice under existing law and 4 to argue for law reform On the surface the first two applications appear descriptive and the second two normative Below the surface all four missions share common assumptions about the power and generalizability of the psychological findings Even superficially explanatory assertions are premised on the normative view that psychology should inform our understanding of evidence law Whether it should and how law and practice should be changed are incredibly complex questions Illustrating the complexity and suggesting ways forward are the goals of this Chapter

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