The contribution of psychology to judges' knowledge

Abstract

Over the past few decades, reasoning scholars have accumulated an impressive amount of data on the functioning of our brain and on the characteristics of the mental processes that we use to reason and make decisions. In law, the most relevant contribution of these researches carried out in the field of cognitive sciences, is linked to studies that have demonstrated the systematic and predictable deviations of human thought from the rules of the theory of rational choice, also applicable to understand the ways of reasoning of jurists. The purpose of this contribution is, therefore, to investigate whether and how emotions, intuitive mental mechanisms or prejudices can influence the perception of process reality itself, the appreciation of evidence and the psychology of judgment