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Full-Text Articles in Other Psychology
The Distinctiveness Effect In Fingerprint Identification: How The Role Of Distinctiveness, Information Loss, And Informational Bias Influence Fingerprint Identification, Jessica L. Marcon
The Distinctiveness Effect In Fingerprint Identification: How The Role Of Distinctiveness, Information Loss, And Informational Bias Influence Fingerprint Identification, Jessica L. Marcon
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
Fingerprint misidentification has become a concern for legal professionals, especially after the high profile misidentification of Brandon Mayfield as the Madrid train bomber and the first fingerprint related DNA exoneration of Stephen Cowans. The current studies examined how humans perceive the distinctiveness of fingerprints, whether distinctiveness effects found in face perception research are evident in fingerprint identification, and whether there are conditions under which the distinctiveness effect can be eliminated. Experiment 1 examined the distinctiveness effect and information loss, while Experiment 2 investigated the distinctiveness effect and its interaction with information loss and informational bias. In Experiment 1, results showed …
Pre-Existing Attitudes About The Legal System: The Thirteenth Juror?, Larissa Angelique Schmersal
Pre-Existing Attitudes About The Legal System: The Thirteenth Juror?, Larissa Angelique Schmersal
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
The idealized role of the jury is that of a neutral decision maker; however, the degree to which individual verdict preferences represent jurors' pre-existing beliefs about the legal system, theories about issues important to the case at hand, and prior understanding of legal terms remains inadequately explained. The purpose of the current study was to examine the direct and indirect effects of pre-existing attitudes about the legal system upon verdict preferences. Participants were 463 undergraduate students from the University of Texas at El Paso. Consistent with the hypotheses, pre-existing attitudes about the legal system played a role in individual verdicts, …
The Effect Of Facial Resemblance On Alibi Credibility And Final Verdicts, Claudia Ochoa
The Effect Of Facial Resemblance On Alibi Credibility And Final Verdicts, Claudia Ochoa
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
The purpose of this study was to examine an extra-legal variable that may affect the credibility of a defendant and the alibi corroborator's testimonies. In this study, the facial appearance of the alibi corroborator was manipulated to resemble the defendant or the trial judge to different degrees using facial morphing software. Participants serving as mock jurors provided verdicts for a trial summary and rated the credibility of an alibi corroborator. It was hypothesized that as the facial resemblance shared between an alibi corroborator and a defendant increased, the less credible the alibi corroborator's testimony would be perceived, resulting in an …