PSYCH 3CC3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: James Mckeen Cattell, Forensic Dentistry, Whitechapel Murders
13 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Introduction to Forensic Psychology
Lecture 1
• In reality, criminal profiling is usually inaccurate and innocent people are often profiled
• Micro-expressions – millisecond facial expressions and involuntary body language that
expose truth behind lies; can be noticed through videotaping someone
o Emotions DO NOT correlate to truth or lies
• CSI Effect – jurors have an expectation that every criminal case should revolve around
forensic evidence and distrusts cases that don’t involve any (CSI shows have a ton of
evidence in their cases)
o Only 10% of criminal trials involve forensic evidence
• Forensic Sciences
o Anthropology – victim identification from bones, facial reconstruction
o Biology – applies biological knowledge to court proceedings. Includes botany
(seeds/twigs r/t location of body), entomology (bugs in dead animals/humans to
determine how long they’ve been there)
o Chemistry – analysis of substances found on/around the body
o Engineering – accident reconstruction, fire & explosion analysis, determining
where flaws were when structures collapse
o Medicine – pathology, odontology (forensic dentistry, bite marks), toxicology
(poisons)
o Meteorology – weather on that day
o Accounting – analyzes the books r/t criminal proceedings for fraud
• Only 45-59% of forensic evidence is analyzed – most labs don’t have proper equipment
o Analysis usually involves examination by an expert, but there is high error rate
(one expert will say one thing and another will say opposite)
o High error rate for: bite marks, tool marks, bullet comparisons, fingerprints (b/c
fragments of fingerprint is analyzed), hair, etc.
o DNA comparisons are the only reliable way of analyzing forensic evidence
• Forensic Psychology Timeline
1842 – begins w/ fiction books “Murders in the Rue Morgue”, main character profiles the
offender
1887 – Sherlock Holmes appears, shows criminal profiling as well in “A Study in
Scarlet”
1888 – Whitechapel murders, 11 murders occurred and the first offender profile was
provided by Dr. Thomas Bond. Letter was written to a London newspaper admitting to
the crime, signed by Jack the Ripper (but he wasn’t the actual offender)
1895 – James McKeen Cattell conducts research on memory accuracy, begins scientific
basis of forensic psychology (since criminal profiling is not really scientific)
1896 – Albert von Schrenk-Notzing testifies about negative effects of pre-trial publicity
on witness recall
1901 – William Stern conducts research on eyewitness testimony and leading questions
1908 – Hugo Munsterberg publishes “On the Witness Stand”, the first forensic
psychology book. Known as the grandfather of forensic psychology
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
1842 begins w/ fiction books murders in the rue morgue , main character profiles the offender. 1887 sherlock holmes appears, shows criminal profiling as well in a study in. 1888 whitechapel murders, 11 murders occurred and the first offender profile was provided by dr. thomas bond. Letter was written to a london newspaper admitting to the crime, signed by jack the ripper (but he wasn"t the actual offender) 1895 james mckeen cattell conducts research on memory accuracy, begins scientific basis of forensic psychology (since criminal profiling is not really scientific) 1896 albert von schrenk-notzing testifies about negative effects of pre-trial publicity on witness recall. 1901 william stern conducts research on eyewitness testimony and leading questions. 1908 hugo munsterberg publishes on the witness stand , the first forensic psychology book. 1916 lewis terman"s standford-binet iq test (intelligence quotient) is implemented when selecting police/fire applicants in california.
