Quality of Laypersons' Assessment of Forensically Relevant Stimuli.

Quality of Laypersons' Assessment of Forensically Relevant Stimuli. J Forensic Sci. 2020 Jul 06;: Authors: Sneyd D, Schreiber Compo N, Rivard J, Pena M, Stoiloff S, Hernandez G Abstract The current study examined the potential for cognitive bias in lay examiners' comparisons of footwear impressions within the technical review process while addressing limitations of previous research. Prior research has found inconsistent results regarding the extent to which cognitive bias may influence forensic comparisons (for review, see Forensic Sci Int, 297, 2019 and 35), often asking nonexperts to review forensic stimuli above their competency level. Furthermore, past research has largely ignored the potential for cognitive bias during the technical review process. In collaboration with the Miami-Dade Police Department's Forensic Services Bureau, we examined the effects of previous examiners' level of experience and prior knowledge of the previous examiner's decision on the technical review stage of footwear impression stimuli. Before lay examiners were presented with pairs of known match and nonmatch footwear impressions, they were either told that an expert or a novice had previously examined them and determined them to be either a match, nonmatch, or inconclusive (plus a no-information condition). Participants then evaluated each pair of footwear impressions to make their own determinations of match, nonmatch, or inconclusive. Results suppor...
Source: Journal of Forensic Sciences - Category: Forensic Medicine Authors: Tags: J Forensic Sci Source Type: research