Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
97594 Forensic Science International 2008 4 Pages PDF
Abstract

Fingerprint identification relies on an expert’s ability to accurately recognise differences and similarities in friction ridge detail. The process is open to the questioning of an expert’s ability to accurately analyse and interpret friction ridges. It has been suggested that the interpretation and analysis of fingermarks becomes more subjective as clarity decreases and as a consequence the expert is more vulnerable to external stimuli.An experiment involving 70 fingerprint experts was conducted to establish whether the introduction of an emotional context would alter the experts’ judgement of an ambiguous or poor quality mark.The emotional context did have a perceived effect on the experts’ analysis, as more stated they were affected by the information they were given. However, it did not have any actual effect on their final opinions as no difference was observed between the high- and low-emotional contexts.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Chemistry Analytical Chemistry
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