Fraser-Mackenzie Peter A F, Dror Itiel E, Wertheim Kasey
Cognitive Consultants International, London, UK.
Sci Justice. 2013 Jun;53(2):144-53. doi: 10.1016/j.scijus.2012.12.002. Epub 2012 Dec 27.
We examined forensic fingerprint examiners' suitability determinations of latent fingerprints comparing situations in which the latent is assessed solo (in isolation) versus situations in which it is presented alongside a comparison (matching or non-matching) exemplar print. The presence of a non-matching comparison exemplar led examiners to be more inclined to draw the conclusion that the latent was suitable for comparison compared to when the latent was presented solo. This effect persisted even when the latent presented was highly unsuitable for comparison. The presence of a matching comparison exemplar led examiners to be less likely to decide that the latent was suitable and more likely to decide the latent was questionable compared to solo analysis. This effect persisted even when the latent presented was highly suitable, suggesting a strong main effect. Knowledge of another examiner's previous determination that the latent was unsuitable was found to increase the likelihood that the examiner would conclude that the latent was unsuitable. However, knowledge of a previous "suitable" determination by another examiner did not increase the likelihood of a "suitable" conclusion by examiners. The finding that effects were weaker, although not entirely removed, in those with IAI certification suggests that training may be an appropriate route for reducing the effect of contextual influence and bias in suitability determinations. It was also shown that latent prints that were previously classed as "unsuitable" in a non-biasing context, continued to be judged to be "unsuitable" in a strongly biasing context (a major case in which a previous examiner was purported to have made an Individualization).
我们研究了法医指纹鉴定人员对潜在指纹的适用性判定，比较了单独评估潜在指纹（孤立地）与将其与比对（匹配或不匹配）样本指纹一起呈现的情况。与单独呈现潜在指纹相比，存在不匹配的比对样本会使鉴定人员更倾向于得出该潜在指纹适合进行比对的结论。即使所呈现的潜在指纹极不适合进行比对，这种效应仍然存在。与单独分析相比，存在匹配的比对样本会使鉴定人员更不太可能判定该潜在指纹适合，而更有可能判定该潜在指纹存在疑问。即使所呈现的潜在指纹非常适合，这种效应仍然存在，表明存在强大的主效应。发现了解另一位鉴定人员先前判定该潜在指纹不适合会增加该鉴定人员得出该潜在指纹不适合结论的可能性。然而，了解另一位鉴定人员先前的“适合”判定并不会增加鉴定人员得出“适合”结论的可能性。在获得国际鉴定协会（IAI）认证的人员中，这些效应较弱（尽管并未完全消除），这一发现表明培训可能是减少适用性判定中背景影响和偏差效应的合适途径。研究还表明，在无偏差背景下先前被归类为“不适合”的潜在指纹，在强烈偏差背景下（一个据称先前鉴定人员已进行个体识别的重大案件）仍会被判定为“不适合”。
