Cognitive Psychology Commons^™

The Effects Of Cognitive Bias, Examiner Experience, And Stimulus Material On Forensic Evidence Analysis, Michelle M. Pena

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Forensic examiners have come under scrutiny in recent years because of high profile exoneration cases that have highlighted the negative impact contextual bias can have on investigations including forensic evidence analyses. This has led to several proposed solutions to reduce the effects of bias including blind testing and redacting task-irrelevant information. However, practitioners have not been receptive to such recommendations because of the limitations found in past research, such as the use of untrained undergraduate students to examine complex pieces of forensic evidence (e.g., fingerprints). The current study thus had the following aims: (a) examine the effect of contextual bias …