Forensic Evidence

About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about forensic evidence, focusing in particular on: (i) the broad range of potential biases which may lead to miscarriages of justice, including confirmation bias, the hidden perpetrator effect, the serial error effect, the naïve investigator effect, the association fallacy, and the compound error effect; (ii) four key methods by which these biases might be reduced as information access, order of information presentation, comparisons between multiple samples, and replication of findings.

About the lecturer

Professor Ciarán O’Keeffe is associate professor of education and research and head of the School of Human and Social Sciences at Buckinghamshire New University. Professor O’Keeffe’s research interests include investigative psychology and parapsychology, and has made numerous television and radio appearances alongside an array of celebrities. Some of Professor O’Keeffe’s recent publications include 'Things That Go Bump In The Literature: An Environmental Appraisal of 'Haunted Houses'' (2020) and 'Restorative Justice and Recidivism: Investigating the impact of victim-preference for level of engagement' (2014).