But is there more we can learn and apply as advocates?\u00a0 In a segment tiled \u201cPerceiving What You Feel,\u201d Clark begins with a simple illustration \u2013 if you already believe [predict] that a friend is angry with you, you may see their face is reflecting anger even though to others it appears neutral.\u00a0 At a deeper and more profound level, Clark uses this to explain what is sometimes termed \u201cshooter bias.\u201d\u00a0 When a police officer gets inner bodily sensations \u2013 heightened fear, increased heart rate, sweaty hands \u2013 sensations that may be coupled with \u201cmisguided racial stereotypes, the police officer\u2019s predictive thinking will make them \u2018see\u2019 a gun in what is actually a neutral object such as a cellphone.\u00a0 Clark\u2019s purpose is not to excuse but to explain \u2013 in that instance the officer may be perceiving what their feelings predict.\u00a0 Trying to put a jury \u201cin the moment\u201d in such circumstances, or make a meaningful assessment of mens rea<\/em>, may require an understanding of predictive brain processing.<\/p>\n Another lesson comes from \u201cMooney\u201d images.\u00a0 Take a look at this abstract image:<\/p>\n Now, look at the below photo and then go back to the abstraction.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It is now easy to see the eyes in the first image.\u00a0 And how does that translate in court?\u00a0 If you are playing\u00a0 a poorly recorded conversation but give jurors a written transcript, the written words predict\/inform what they then hear in ambiguous settings.\u00a0 The words will sound clearer, even if they are not.<\/p>\n Is there a more direct application of the prediction machine model to courtroom advocacy?\u00a0 Here is the inquiry I sent to Dr. Clark:<\/p>\n Here is the question – I want to write about the prediction machine model as it pertains to how jurors receive information overall.\u00a0 We teach the importance of story-telling in a jury opening statement as a way to frame the isolated pieces of proof that will be offered at trial; and we further teach that (1) if we don’t give the jurors a story they will construct their own and then ‘see’ the rest of the trial through that framing and (2) if the story we provide is unfamiliar with their experiences the jurors may drop it for their own story.<\/p>\n My question is whether the lessons on story discussed above align with the prediction machine model.\u00a0 To me they do, but\u00a0I don’t have expertise and hope to confirm this.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dr. Clark shared the following: \u201cThanks for raising this important issue. The PP account suggests that the initial story will act as a contextual frame that alters the way evidence is then assessed – it might even alter the way pictorial evidence is seen or experienced – In general framing effects are powerful ways of setting the priors that then impact experience.\u201d<\/p>\n So our takeaways? What we have intuited\/taught from a narrative\/power-of-story vantage is also supported by the mind as a predictive machine.\u00a0 Implant the story, the emotions, the sensations \u2013 and let them then help the jurors \u201cpredict\u201d what we want them to see.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BY JULES EPSTEIN When we look at something \u2013 an inanimate object, an event unfolding \u2013 does that stimulus go into our brain and tell the brain \u201chere I am, recognize me!\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Put more simply, is it like a camera where sensory input paints the picture on the \u2018film.\u2019\u00a0 Or is the brain wired differently,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[330],"class_list":["post-3848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brain-lessons","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/aer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/01\/frog-image.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/aer\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/01\/mooney-frog.png\")
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