Date of Award
2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Psychology
Committee Chair
Jeffrey S. Neuschatz
Committee Member
Jonathan M. Golding
Committee Member
Stacy A. Wetmore
Committee Member
Jodi Price
Subject(s)
Jurors--Decision making--Psychological aspects, Evidence (Law), Informers, False testimony, Forensic psychology
Abstract
Research has shown that primary confessions influence forensic evidence examinations such as handwriting evidence. Additionally, previous research on secondary confessions from jailhouse informants has indicated that primary and secondary confessions are equally influential in jury decision making. The current study investigated the relationship between jailhouse informant statements and perceptions of forensic evidence. Participants read a case summary depicting a bank robbery along with confession evidence either from the suspect or a jailhouse informant before examining handwriting evidence. Result indicated that reliable jailhouse informant statements led participants to fall prey to the forensic confirmation bias. Jailhouse informant reliability significantly impacted perceptions of handwriting evidence, such that a reliable informant increased match judgments and similarity ratings of the samples.
Recommended Citation
Jenkins, Baylee D., "Testing the forensic confirmation bias : do jailhouse informants contaminate evidentiary independence?" (2020). Theses. 351.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-theses/351