Diagnosing Crime and Diagnosing Disease: Bias Reduction Strategies in the Forensic and Clinical Sciences

Lockhart, Joseph J.; Satya‐Murti, Saty

doi:10.1111/1556-4029.13453

Cited by 17 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 87 publications

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“…Past reviews have compared cognitive, forensic, and clinical biases with each other, their implications, and resulting serious errors . Medical diagnostic effort shares some features with other cognitive processes, such as eyewitness identification (EI) and intelligence analysis .…”

Section: Cognitive Biasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…General broad cognitive debiasing strategies to minimize diagnostic mistakes have shown variable effects. Consistent benefits have been hard to realize from universally applicable techniques across disciplines .…”

Section: Possible Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At this point, without clear evidence to the contrary, we do not advocate limiting clinical information during a primary or first clinical encounter. One main reason is that an initial clinical diagnosis is normally made by one responsible stakeholder . It is the subsequent diagnostic testing that we address below.…”

Section: Possible Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Diagnosing Crime and Diagnosing Disease‐II: Visual Pattern Perception and Diagnostic Accuracy

Satya‐Murti¹,

Lockhart²

2018

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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Previously, we reviewed how general cognitive processes might be susceptible to bias across both forensic and clinical fields, and how interdisciplinary comparisons could reduce error. We discuss several examples of clinical tasks which are heavily dependent on visual processing, comparing them to eyewitness identification (EI). We review the "constructive" nature of visual processing, and how contextual factors influence both medical experts and witnesses in decision making and recall. Overall, studies suggest common cognitive factors uniting these visual tasks, in both their strengths and shortcomings. Recently forensic sciences have advocated reducing errors by identifying and controlling nonrelevant information. Such efforts could effectively assist medical diagnosis. We suggest potential remedies for cognitive bias in these tasks. These can generalize across the clinical and forensic domains, including controlling the sequencing of contextual factors. One solution is an agnostic primary reading before incorporation of a complete history and interpretation.

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Section: Cognitive Biasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Possible Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Diagnosing Crime and Diagnosing Disease‐II: Visual Pattern Perception and Diagnostic Accuracy

Satya‐Murti¹,

Lockhart²

2018

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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“…The Journal of Forensic Sciences recently published a paper in which Lockhart and Satya-Murti review the literature in both clinical and forensic decision making as it relates to strategies for reducing bias (1). The paper provides some interesting comparisons between how these two fields have addressed issues of bias to date.…”

Section: Sirmentioning

confidence: 99%

Commentary on: Lockhart JJ, Satya‐murti S. Diagnosing crime and diagnosing disease: bias reduction strategies in the forensic and clinical sciences. J Forensic Sci https://doi.org/10.1111/1556‐4029.13453. Epub 2017 Feb 23.

Osborne

2017

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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“…Despite many technological and scientific advances in forensic science, decision-making remains primarily a 2 subjective, human cognitive process. Consequently, errors and bias are likely to occur with the potential for serious 3 deleterious consequences [1], which can ultimately undermine the value of the scientific evidence that the field of 4 forensic science provides [2]. Cognitive forensics is the study of how fundamental cognitive processes, such as 5 constructing, seeking and interpreting information, impact the way forensic science is conducted, and how cognitive 6 knowledge can guide and enhance forensic work [3,4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The use of contextual information in forensic toxicology: An international survey of toxicologists' experiences

Hamnett

Jack

2019

Science & Justice

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17Cognitive bias is a well-documented automatic process that can have serious negative consequences in a 18 variety of settings. For example, cognitive bias within a forensic science setting can lead to examiners' 19 judgements being swayed by details that they have learned while working on the case, and which go beyond 20 the physical evidence being examined. Although cognitive bias has been studied in many forensic disciplines, 21 such as fingerprints, bullet comparison, and document examination, knowledge of cognitive bias within 22 forensic toxicology is lacking. Here, we address this knowledge gap by assessing use of contextual information 23 by an international group of forensic toxicologists attending the 54th conference of The International 24 Association of Forensic Toxicologists (TIAFT) in Brisbane in 2016. In a first study, participants read a set of 25 simple post-mortem toxicology results (two drug concentrations in blood) and then indicated what 26 information they would normally use when interpreting these results in their day-to-day casework. Using a 27 questionnaire, we then surveyed the familiarity of toxicologists with contextual bias and captured any 28 suggested bias-minimizing procedures for use in forensic toxicology laboratories. Thirty-six participants from 29 23 different countries and with a range of 1-35 years' forensic toxicology reporting experience volunteered. 30 Analysis of their responses showed that the majority of participants used some contextual information in their 31 interpretation of post-mortem toxicology results (range = 3-15 pieces of information, median  SD = 11  3), 32 the most common being the deceased's history of prescription or illicit drug use. More than three-quarters of 33 participants reported being familiar with the concept of contextual bias, although few (n = 9) worked in 34 laboratories that had a formal policy covering it. Over half of participants knew of at least one bias-minimizing 35 procedure specifically for forensic toxicology casework, but only a quarter (overall) reported using bias-36 minimizing procedures in their laboratories. Our results provide substantial evidence that although practising 37 forensic toxicologists are familiar with contextual bias, many report that they still engage in behaviours that 38 could lead to cognitive bias (e.g., through the use of contextual information, through lack of explicit policies 39 or bias-minimizing procedures). We anticipate that our work will form the basis of further research involving a larger sample of participants and examining other potentially relevant factors such as sex/gender, country 1 and accreditation of laboratories. 2 3 4 Keywords: cognitive bias; forensic toxicology; bias-minimizing procedure; contextual bias 5 6

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Diagnosing Crime and Diagnosing Disease: Bias Reduction Strategies in the Forensic and Clinical Sciences

Cited by 17 publications

References 87 publications

Diagnosing Crime and Diagnosing Disease‐II: Visual Pattern Perception and Diagnostic Accuracy

Diagnosing Crime and Diagnosing Disease‐II: Visual Pattern Perception and Diagnostic Accuracy

Commentary on: Lockhart JJ, Satya‐murti S. Diagnosing crime and diagnosing disease: bias reduction strategies in the forensic and clinical sciences. J Forensic Sci https://doi.org/10.1111/1556‐4029.13453. Epub 2017 Feb 23.

The use of contextual information in forensic toxicology: An international survey of toxicologists' experiences

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