Legal psychology

In recent decades, worldwide, a number of disturbing miscarriages of justice have occurred. Strikingly, in some instances, jury members as well as professional judges misjudged the available evidence. Why, and how does this happen? Legal psychology is about the psychological interpretation of legal evidence, particularly criminal evidence. This book contains a general introduction to psychology as a science. Three psychological domains are discussed, namely perception, memory, and decision making. Next, three pieces of evidence to which psychological theory outstandingly applies are targeted: Identification evidence, eyewitness testimony, and confession evidence. Finally, legal fact finding is reviewed, as well as a contemporary view on the likelihood ratio approach to evidence.