Forensic expectations: Investigating a crime scene with prior information

In a large body of research the influence of contextual information on decisions made in a broad range of disciplines has been studied. To date, the influence of these expectancy effects on the crime scene investigation has not been studied. In the present study we explored the effect of prior information given to crime scene investigators on their perception and interpretation of an ambiguous crime scene.Participants (N=58) were experienced crime scene investigators who were provided with a panoramic photograph of an ambiguous mock crime scene.

Source: Science and Justice - August 17, 2016 Category: Forensic Medicine Authors: Claire A.J. van den Eeden, Christianne J. de Poot, Peter J. van Koppen Tags: Emerging researcher article Source Type: research