A Central Queensland University study has revealed that women make more informed decisions when deliberating on a jury.

The study performed by Bachelor of Psychology student, Sandra Dawes, and doctoral student, Leeana Kent, under the supervision of Dr Lynne ForsterLee, Head of the School of Psychology and Sociology, examined the effects of juror gender, note-taking, eyewitness confidence, and need for cognition on verdict decisions and recall.

After viewing a mock criminal trial of armed robbery, the 241 jury eligible participants were asked to render a verdict and recall information that led to their decision.

"Results indicated that females recalled significantly more case-related information than males. Similarly, note-takers recalled more trial facts than those not provided with the opportunity to take notes," Dr ForsterLee said.

Mock jurors high in "need for cognition" also tended to recall more trial information.

Dr ForsterLee said a number of this study’s findings have pragmatic implications for the legal system.

"To begin, note-taking is clearly a cost effective way of providing jurors with memory aids that enhance comprehension and elaboration of the evidence leading to better verdict decisions," she said.

"Note-taking in this study led to central processing and improved recall whether the eyewitness was confident or uncertain and hesitant in his testimony. Additionally, the impact of note-taking was reflected in the non significant finding between male and female note-takers in the low eyewitness confidence condition.".

The study highlighted the need for future research which might include the examination of other factors while replicating the current study with the inclusion of a female eyewitness, low and high in confidence.

"This might contribute insight into our understanding of the effects of gender on juror information processing.".

Dr ForsterLee said future research also needs to investigate these findings in the context of group decision making.