Psychology Department, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th Street, Miami, FL, 33199.
Barry University, 11300 NE 2nd Avenue, Miami Shores, FL, 33161.
J Forensic Sci. 2020 Sep;65(5):1507-1516. doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.14495. Epub 2020 Jul 6.
The current study examined the potential for cognitive bias in lay examiners' comparisons of footwear impressions within the technical review process while addressing limitations of previous research. Prior research has found inconsistent results regarding the extent to which cognitive bias may influence forensic comparisons, often asking non-experts to review forensic stimuli above their competency level. Furthermore, past research has largely ignored the potential for cognitive bias during the technical review process. In collaboration with the Miami-Dade Police Department's Forensic Services Bureau, we examined the effects of previous examiners' level of experience and prior knowledge of the previous examiner's decision on the technical review stage of footwear impression stimuli. Before lay examiners were presented with pairs of known match and nonmatch footwear impressions, they were either told that an expert or a novice had previously examined them and determined them to be either a match, nonmatch, or inconclusive (plus a no-information condition). Participants then evaluated each pair of footwear impressions to make their own determinations of match, nonmatch, or inconclusive. Results support the technical review process for all decision types, as known nonmatch stimuli were generally more difficult for lay examiners to assess than known match stimuli. Knowledge of a prior examiner's decision and status was observed only when the prior decision was inconclusive, suggesting the need for inclusion of inconclusive decisions in future research examining cognitive bias in forensic examination.
本研究考察了在技术审查过程中，非专业鉴定人在比较鞋印痕迹时是否存在认知偏差，并解决了先前研究的局限性问题。先前的研究发现，认知偏差在多大程度上可能影响法医鉴定存在不一致的结果，通常要求非专业人员在超出其能力水平的情况下审查法医刺激物。此外，过去的研究在很大程度上忽略了技术审查过程中认知偏差的潜在影响。本研究与迈阿密戴德警察局法医服务局合作，考察了先前鉴定人的经验水平以及先前对鉴定人决定的了解对鞋印痕迹技术审查阶段的影响。在非专业鉴定人查看已知匹配和不匹配的鞋印痕迹之前，他们被告知先前有专家或新手对其进行了检查，并将其确定为匹配、不匹配或不确定（加上无信息条件）。然后，参与者评估每对鞋印痕迹，以自行确定匹配、不匹配或不确定。结果支持所有决策类型的技术审查过程，因为非专业鉴定人通常更难以评估已知的不匹配刺激，而不是已知的匹配刺激。仅当先前的决定不确定时，才观察到对先前鉴定人决定和身份的了解，这表明需要在未来研究中纳入不确定的决定，以检查法医鉴定中的认知偏差。
