If anybody has ever used the software "Psychology on a disk" there is a wonderful
demonstration within it (called "guilt detection") which shows that after an
individual READS about a crime, they respond with different reaction times to
stimuli related to the "read about" fictitious crime. Even though that is based
upon "sound science", I would hope that it wouldn't be used for forensic
purposes!
BTW, students get a real kick out of it.
Jonathan Roberts wrote:
> I must admit when I first heard the words "Brain Fingerprinting" I was also
> quite concerned. The claims were a bit outrageous, but the science behind
> them is fairly sound. The brain will respond differently to information that
> is familiar than to information that is novel. (this is where the hundreds of
> studies they were talking about came from, similar to an "oddball" paradigm
> that is prevalent in the ERP literature). I must assume they were using an
> ERP procedure, and by presenting both familiar and novel information a
> baseline within each subject can be created. Then, when information that is
> either new or novel (this is the interesting part) is presented, the brain's
> reaction is compared to the baseline data. Therefore, they are not confirming
> the null. This is more like a fancy polygraph than anything else, but still
> could be useful.
>
> The use of "weeds and grass" (here, I am assuming quite a bit) as the phrase
> that concludes guilt or innocence was probably a bad one, and I would assume
> that there were other details of the crime in which we didn't see details.
>
> "Brain Fingerprinting," I don't think so, but there is some sound science
> behind the research. I'm thinking more along the lines of an "Extended
> Polygraph."
>
> Jonathan Roberts, M.S.
> Adjunct Faculty, Randolph Macon Woman's College
> ABD in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Virginia Tech
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Steven M. Specht, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
Psychology Department
Utica College of Syracuse University
1600 Burrstone Rd.
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 792-3171
"To teach is to learn twice". - Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)
