Live webinar presented by Adele Quigley-McBride, PhD, LLB
Aug 1, 2024, 12:30pm
90 min of CLE credit anticipated
Research and post-mortem evaluations of wrongful conviction cases have shed light on some of the problems contributing to errors in forensic science in the US. Although research explicitly designed to apply to forensic testing procedures is in its infancy, there is already a large body of psychological research addressing decision-making and judgment processes that occur in situations where the available information is poor quality (e.g., evidence from a crime scene).
The workshop will begin with background information about human factors and cognitive biases before exploring how these are directly relevant to forensic science. What role do human factors considerations and cognitive biases in the context of forensic science? Why should forensic analysts and laboratories direct their resources to address issues related to human factors and cognitive bias? What research-based recommendations exist to address human factors and cognitive bias issues in forensic science? Practical solutions and potential policy changes to human factors issues will be discussed as well as future directions for research.
Registration:
This program is part of the 2024 IDS Forensic Science Education Series. The webinars will be presented monthly and are free to attend. Use this link to register for all webinars in the series and attend any that are of interest.
Presenter:
Adele Quigley-McBride received a BSc in Psychology and an LLB (Bachelor of Laws) from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. After receiving a Fulbright scholarship, she began graduate work working with Professor Gary Wells at Iowa State University, receiving her PhD in Psychology in 2020. Between 2020 and 2023, Dr. Quigley-McBride was a Postdoctoral Associate at the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law, working with Professor Brandon Garrett. She is now an Assistant Professor in Psychology as Simon Fraser University in British Columbia in Canada.
Her current research focuses on cognitive bias and decision-making processes in legally-relevant contexts, including eyewitness identification, plea bargaining, juror decision-making, and forensic testing procedures. Her research on forensic decision processes emphasizes practical solutions that require few resources, but can minimize the impact of problematic information that analysts may be exposed to during their analyses. In addition to her research, Dr. Quigley-McBride is the Vice-Chair of the Human Factors Task Group at the Organization of Scientific Area Committee focused on reviewing and producing forensic science standards. She is also a Technical Advisory Board member at the Houston Forensic Science Center.