Expertise Lends Both Skills and Vulnerabilities
from Part II - Pretrial Phase Decision-Making
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 February 2024
This chapter focuses on the expertise of forensic science practitioners who make legally relevant decisions from both a skills-based and vulnerabilities-based perspective. We bring together research relevant to forensic examiners’ decision-making to inform the development of empirically based solutions for some of the issues we raise. We begin by describing a general model of bias in judgment, explaining how experts can be vulnerable to systematic errors and biases in decision-making, but also how expertise can protect against bias in some circumstances. We then explore the cognitive mechanisms underpinning forensic science expertise to explore the unique abilities examiners develop, the important role of these unique abilities in forensic science decision-making, and their implications for selection and training. We describe what can be done now to enhance experts’ strengths and mitigate the negative effects of bias. Finally, we conclude by exploring how future research can continue to explore the unique abilities and vulnerabilities in forensic science decision-making to enhance professional performance.
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