Cognitive Bias and Forensic Science Workshop
Cognitive Bias and Forensic Science Workshop
Final Report (pdf), 57 pages, posted June 23, 2011
September 23-24, 2010
Northwestern Law Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth
Sponsored by the National Science Foundation
Schedule (pdf) | Overview | Workshop Organizer | Workshop Participants | Biographies (pdf) | Background Papers | Group Presentations (Video) | Group Presentations (Slides) | Questions
This workshop on Cognitive Bias and Forensic Science brings together about two dozen leading psychologists, forensic scientists, and others to explore the ways in which psychological factors may affect the conclusions that forensic scientists reach. It will be held September 23-24, 2010, at Northwestern Law's Searle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth in Chicago.
The workshop will begin with a series of background presentations that explore the methods used in the forensic sciences, identify the roles that various psychological factors may play in forensic pattern recognition, and review portions of a recent National Academy of Sciences report on the current state of the forensic sciences. In the afternoon of the first workshop day, participants will break into small groups to discuss ways in which task structure, contextual influences, expectation, emotion, and confirmatory strategies may affect what forensic scientists see, and their judgments about who or what is the source of evidentiary items recovered from an investigation. Groups will be encouraged to identify general theories and testable hypotheses that advance our understanding of social and cognitive effects on judgment and decision making with an eye toward using that new understanding to identify potential areas for reform in the forensic sciences.
On the second day of the workshop, each group will present its ideas to the complete set of workshop participants; time will be left for discussion to refine those ideas. The workshop will end with a session designed to pull together workshop contributions and to identify a concrete agenda for further research.
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Jay Koehler (Northwestern University School of Law)
Beatrice Kuhn Professor of Law
View participant bios (pdf)
Hal Arkes (Ohio State University, Department of Psychology)
Professor
Deborah Boehm-Davis (George Mason University, Department of Psychology Human Factors and Applied Cognition)
University Professor and Chair
Joshua Correll (The University of Chicago, Department of Psychology)
Assistant Professor
Shari Seidman Diamond (Northwestern University School of Law)
Howard J. Trienens Professor of Law
Itiel Dror (University College London)
Principal Consultant and Researcher, Cognitive Consultants International (CCI)
David L. Faigman (University of California, Hastings College of Law)
John F. Digardi Distinguished Professor of Law
Thomas D. Gilovich (Cornell University, Department of Psychology)
Professor and Chairperson
Lesley Hammer (Hammer Forensics, LLC)
Chair, Scientific Working Group on Shoeprint and Tire Tread Evidence
Reid Hastie (University of Chicago Booth School of Business)
Robert S. Hamada Professor of Behavioral Science
Robin Jones (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives)
Office of the Director; Executive Secretary for the Subcommittee on Forensic Science
Dan M. Kahan (Yale Law School)
Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Law
Joshua Klayman (Center for Decision Research, University of Chicago Booth School of Business)
Professor Emeritus of Behavioral Science
Glenn Langenburg (Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension)
Certified Latent Print Examiner
Craig R.M. McKenzie (University of California, San Diego, Rady School of Management and Department of Psychology)
Professor
Ken Melson (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives)
Acting Director
Jennifer L. Mnookin (University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law)
Professor
Emily Pronin (Princeton University, Department Psychology)
Associate Professor
Michael J. Saks (Arizona State University, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law)
Regents' Professor of Law and Psychology
Jay Siegel (Indiana University-Purdue University, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology)
Professor and Department Chair
Director, Forensic and Investigative Science, Analytical and Forensic Chemistry
William C. Thompson (Department of Criminology, Law and Society, School of Social Ecology, University of California)
Professor of Criminology, Law, and Society and Psychology & Social Behavior
Mark L. Weiss (National Science Foundation)
Division Director for Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences within the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences
Paul Windschitl (University of Iowa, Department of Psychology)
Professor of Psychology
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Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward, National Academy of Sciences, 2009
- Summary (pdf)
- Chapter 4: The Principles of Science and Interpreting Scientific Data (pdf)
- Chapter 6: Improving Methods, Practice, and Performance in Forensic Science (pdf)
NIJ Solicitation: Social Science Research in Forensic Science, 2010 (pdf)
Group Presentations
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Questions
Please e-mail Derek Gundersen with questions about Workshop logistics or administrative matters. Please e-mail Jay Koehler with substantive questions about the workshop content.
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