EDP Informational-Frames Study

The study was designed to examine whether informational frames preceding police officer-civilian confrontation videos can influence how participants perceive the video and ultimately make decisions about the officer’s use of force. Two types of informational frames were examined in the present study: civilian EDP- and police warning-informational frames. Experiment 1 examined whether civilian EDP-informational frames affected judgments of police use of force. Information about the civilian in the video was varied: participants were either informed the civilian had a substance abuse issue, mental illness, or nothing (no EDP control). Experiment 2 examined whether civilian EDP- and police warning-informational frames influenced judgments of police use of force. Participants were either told the officer was informed about the civilian’s behavior, the officer was not informed about the civilian’s behavior, or nothing.