The forensic confirmation bias: Problems, perspectives, and proposed solutions.

As illustrated by the mistaken, high-profile fingerprint identification of Brandon Mayfield in the Madrid Bomber case, and consistent with a recent critique by the National Academy of Sciences (2009), it is clear that the forensic sciences are subject to contextual bias and fraught with error. In this article, we describe classic psychological research on primacy, expectancy effects, and observer effects, all of which indicate that context can taint people's perceptions, judgments, and behaviors. Then we describe recent studies indicating that confessions and other types of information can set into motion forensic confirmation biases that corrupt lay witness perceptions and memories as well as the judgments of…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Defense

  Award: N41756-10-C-3382
• CU
  City University of New York
• FB
  Federal Bureau of Investigation
• NI
  National Institute of Standards and Technology
• RF
  Research Foundation of The City University of New York
• DH
  Defense Human Resources Activity

  Award: N41756-10-C-3382