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Abstract
Previous research on disclaimers has resulted in contradictory claims as to the effect of these devices on speaker evaluations. The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of disclaimer usage during witness examination on juror perceptions. Fifty witnesses across 13 trials were evaluated by subject-jurors, and their testimony was assessed for disclaimer usage. The results of the study support the work of Bell et al. (1984) who argue that disclaimers have neither a positive nor negative effect on perceptions of source credibility. Frequency of disclaimer usage was found to be unrelated to subject-juror evaluations of witness credibility and testimony believability. In addition, females were not found to use more disclaimers than males during examination. Furthermore, when females used disclaimers they were not viewed as either more or less credible or believable than were males. The author contends that these results provide further support that disclaimers are not negative language devices. The relationship between witness credibility and testimony believability as they contribute separately to narrative probability is also discussed.