Thinking Beyond the Shown: Implicit Inferences in Evidence and Argument

Abstract

Visual representations are especially well suited to the construction of implicit meanings. Like advocates in other fields, lawyers use visual displays to prompt cognitive and emotional associations of which viewers may not be aware and which, consequently, they are less likely to evaluate critically. The authors review some of the psychological and rhetorical effects of visual representations in general, discuss several examples of how legal visual displays encourage audiences to draw implicit inferences and argue for the importance of heightened visual literacy in improving our ability to understand the meanings and implications of visual advocacy within the legal system.

Keywords: trials, advocacy, rhetoric, visual theory, psychology, evidence