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Human
Factors in the Courtroom: Mythology versus Science
William
Uttal
6" x 9", softbound,
336 pages
2006, Lawyers
and Judges
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Detailed
Table of Contents
About
the author
Human
Factors in the Courtroom, a new reference work, highlights
the myths, misunderstandings, and pseudo-scientific theories concerning
human factors in the courtroom and related situations.
The purpose
of the book is to contrast them with the large body of solid scientific
research to show how many widely accepted beliefs are flawed and
invalid in spite of their widespread admissibility in our nation’s
courtrooms. In the first three chapters, you will learn about
the “junk science” that is so prevalent in our court
system. These chapters include descriptions of what is admissible
“scientific evidence” and what it is not, subjectivity
and bias, the influence of inaccurate preconceived ideas such
as the questionable concept of the “average or reasonably
prudent person”, misuse and misunderstanding of psychology
and psychiatry, and other deeply flawed efforts to “read
the mind.”
As you study
Human Factors in the Courtroom, you will come to realize
that it is quite impossible to know or predict what someone was
thinking, is thinking, or will be thinking despite the promises
made by many practitioners of what are clearly pseudosciences.
You will learn about electronic (e.g., polygraphs, MRIs) and human
(e.g., psychotherapists, criminal profilers, psychics, hypnotists)
efforts to “read the mind” and examine the solid scientific
evidence that indicates the flaws and poor or non-existent validity
of most of them. You will learn how stereotypes, preconceptions,
and prejudice affect procedures such as lineups and eyewitness
testimony often resulting in serious errors in administered justice.
You will also learn how fallible are our memories and how internal
and external influences such as length of time since occurrence,
change in personal value system or ideology, and the possibility
of false memories, affect everyone involved in court cases.
The next three
chapters concentrate on the factors that influence an individual’s
driving performance. You will discover which ones (e.g., the ubiquitous
“perception–reaction time” – the PRT)
are scientifically measurable and which ones are not, how research
is designed to avoid bias and subjectivity, and how to evaluate
experiments and studies for validity. You will study the best
modern laboratory research and learn about its strengths and limitations.
Topics covered in Human Factors in the Courtroom include
direct and indirect influences on our cognitive powers, motor
skills, and sensory and perceptual abilities as they influence
driving behaviors, including alcohol, drugs, fatigue, age, and
environmental distractions such as the use of cellular telephones.
The final
chapter summarizes the previous research and demonstrates the
need for a critical consideration of the pseudoscience contaminating
much of our judicial proceedings. It also shows the need for a
greater understanding of science and the scientific method on
the part of lawyers and judges. It suggests how this might be
implemented and gives suggestions for changes to our current court
system including the creation of a Daubert Tribunal to evaluate
the quality of scientific evidence. This book should encourage
the reader to constantly revaluate the scientific quality of evidence
and to delve deeper into the extensive list of the high quality
research cited throughout this book.
Several appendices
describe the limits of light measurements and photography in forensic
evaluations of automobile accidents as well as the availability
of supplementary information such as advisory manuals.
About
the authors:
William
R. Uttal received his B.S. in physics from the University
of Cincinnati and his Ph.D from the Ohio State University. He
worked at the IBM Watson research center after graduate school,
where he was involved in some of the early computer applications
to psychological research. He then moved to the University of
Michigan where he carried out a decade-long program in visual
psychophysics and physiology. He subsequently served as a program
director at the Naval Ocean Systems Center in Kaneohe, Hawaii
for three years before moving to the Arizona State University.
He is now both professor emeritus in psychology at the University
of Michigan and professor emeritus of engineering at the Arizona
State University. William Uttal is the author of twenty-three
books and 140 scientific publications.
Detailed
Table of Contents
Related books:
The
Persuasive Edge |
