2014/06/06

Pacific Standard 06/05/2014: How Does Bias Affect Forensics Experts?

A new study suggests forensic anthropologists are biased by external information when performing visual examinations.

You’re familiar with the scene: A skeleton lies, inscrutable, on a table in a dimly lit medical examiner’s office. The M.E. pokes around a bit, the camera zooms in dramatically on the clavicle, then she rattles off a few implausibly detailed observations as detectives take notes.

The typical crime procedural depicts this as a well-honed process, but the reality is rarely so simple. A new study published in Science and Justice examines how the complex nature of forensic analysis and pressures on forensics experts could lead them to incorrect conclusions.

Studies have shown that forensics experts (such as fingerprint and DNA analysts) can be swayed by a variety of factors, including cognitive bias, time pressure, and expectations.

In recent years, researchers and legal experts have called the infallibility of scientific evidence into question. It’s an unsettling problem, considering so many jurors expect prosecutors to present scientific evidence and are willing to blindly trust forensic reports—a phenomenon known as the CSI effect, named after the popular long-running TV show. more