Lecture: 1 Introduction to Forensic Psychology

What is forensic psychology?

Pertaining to, connected with, or used in courts, relates to Latin roots of assembly, argument, debate and discussion.
Branch of psychology that interfaces with legal and psychology

Who was Hugo Munsterberg?

Father of Applied Psychology → wrote ‘On the Witness stand’ and used psychology to resolve legal disputes. Notable example of using experiments on colour to test eye witness accounts.
Had a strong belief that psychologists should always be used as consultants with legal cases.

Who was John Henry Wigmore?

Was a strong opponent of Munsterberg, stating that he had overstated his claims, wrote a satirical article placing Munsterberg as a defendant in a mock trial. Really criticised the idea that science should be able to overturn all past precedent.

What were the dark ages of forensic psychology and when did it reemerged?

1930-60s, Forensic psychology disappeared for a while - both due to Munsterberg and due to the behaviourist movement.
Reemerged in 1970x-90s, APL society formed, growth of eyewitness memory, increased interest in jury decision marking and courts began to accept witness testimony more generally.