Forensics

The latest in my ‘Learn Something New Every Day’ series – taken from The Great Courses’ “Trails of Evidence: How Forensic Science Works” (Lecture 29: Forensic Psychology/Psychiatry) In 1991, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer chased his drugged, escaped, 14-year-old victim onto the street where he located him trying to seek help from passing police. Dahmer calmly […]

The latest in my ‘Learn Something New Every Day’ series – taken from The Great Courses’ “Trails of Evidence: How Forensic Science Works” (Lecture 29: Forensic Psychology & Psychiatry) There are four kinds of Deception seen in forensic psychology/psychiatry MALINGERING (simulation) – when someone consciously fakes a mental illness to get treated differently under the […]

The latest in my ‘Learn Something New Every Day’ series – taken from The Great Courses’ “Trails of Evidence: How Forensic Science Works” (Lecture 30: When forensics are on trial) 1. Jail and Prison are different. A jail is a local holding facility for those awaiting trail or for completion of short sentences (under a […]

The latest in my ‘Learn Something New Every Day’ series – taken from The Great Courses’ “Trails of Evidence: How Forensic Science Works” (Lecture 28: Human Memory and Eye-witness Accounts) Because of the importance of witness identification in criminal convictions (and the dire, dire straits for the convicted and legal system when someone innocent is […]

The latest in my ‘Learn Something New Every Day’ series – taken from The Great Courses’ “Trails of Evidence: How Forensic Science Works” (Lecture 28: Human Memory and Eye-witness Accounts) Cognitive Memory – this is the memory that the brain bases on sequences and patterns such as names, phone numbers, languages. It’s a conscious kind […]

The latest in my ‘Learn Something New Every Day’ series – taken from The Great Courses’ “Trails of Evidence: How Forensic Science Works” (Lecture 28: Human Memory and Eye-witness Accounts) No, we’re not all racist jerks. You can blame this one on a phenomena called Cross Racial Identification Bias. Studies have shown that humans are […]

The latest in my ‘Learn Something New Every Day’ series – taken from The Great Courses’ “Trails of Evidence: How Forensic Science Works” (Lecture 28: Human Memory and Eye-witness Accounts) Brains try to help, but…  Our brains don’t capture an event exactly as it happens, they capture an ‘impression’ of an event, including input from […]

The latest in my ‘Learn Something New Every Day’ series – taken from The Great Courses’ “Trails of Evidence: How Forensic Science Works” (Lecture 28: Human Memory and Eye-witness Accounts) There are two layers of memory – Short-term memories are happening now. Immediate and immediately past. Often these memories are not fully processed by the […]

The latest in my ‘Learn Something New Every Day’ series – taken from The Great Courses’ “Trails of Evidence: How Forensic Science Works” (Lecture 27 – Profiling) File this one under “You can tell I’m not American…” Ted Kazinski, aka the Unabomber, was called that because he targeted universities and airlines to bomb.  (UN=university, A=airlines). UN-A-Bomber. […]

The latest in my ‘Learn Something New Every Day’ series – taken from The Great Courses’ “Trails of Evidence: How Forensic Science Works” (Lecture 27 – Profiling) Serial predators ‘profile’ their victims in much the same way that behaviourists profile them. Ted Bundy faked an arm or leg injury and then visibly struggled getting something […]