Forensic handwriting examination and cognitive bias: recommendations from the NIST expert working group on human factors

ABSTRACT

In line with other forensic science disciplines, issues relating to cognitive bias are receiving attention in forensic handwriting examination. Indeed, a key charge of the National Institute of Standards and Technology/National Institute of Justice Expert Working Group on Human Factors in Handwriting Examination was to identify risk factors for, and ways to mitigate, cognitive bias in handwriting examination. Here, we present the Working Group’s draft recommendations relating to cognitive bias and Contextual Information Management (CIM) in handwriting examination. We present examples of CIM that agencies and private practitioners have already employed, and discuss the benefits of, as well as the real and perceived difficulties associated with, CIM. Furthermore, we present recommendations for future research that include an exploration of the delicate balance between the risk of bias and loss of information.

KEYWORDS:

• Forensic handwriting examination
• cognitive bias
• contextual information management
• cognitive forensics
• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Acknowledgements

Members of the Expert Working Group for Human Factors in Handwriting Examination. The report is dedicated to the memory of Bryan Found, a valued contributor to the report and to the forensic handwriting community.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute of Justice; National Institute of Standards and Technology.