RT Article
T1 Contextual information and cognitive bias in the forensic investigation of fatal fires: do these incidents present an increased risk of flawed decision-making?
JF International journal of law, crime and justice
VO 62
SP 1
OP 11
A1 Morling, Neil Richard
A1 Henneberg, Marika
A2 Henneberg, Marika
LA English
YR 2020
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1733993088
AB In sudden or unexpected deaths, there is a need to identify whether or not the death resulted from a criminal act. Adding evidentiary problems associated with fire and arson to this further complicates the investigation. A multi-agency approach with an open exchange of information is recommended, though the use of unrestrictive contextual information is problematic. Extraneous contextual information may introduce bias into the investigative process, risking flawed decision-making, and fatal fires may be particularly vulnerable to this. The authors examine the effect of cognitive bias on fire investigation and argue that, in fatal fire investigations, the sharing of contextual information should involve the use of strict information management strategies to ensure that forensic experts only receive task-relevant contextual information.
K1 Case-manager approach
K1 cognitive bias
K1 Decision-making
K1 Fatal fires
K1 Linear sequential unmasking
K1 Scientific protocols
DO 10.1016/j.ijlcj.2020.100406