Origins of Forensic Psychology

Forensic psychology refers to how psychology is applied to the law. Since the late 19th century, psychologists have been making contributions that have helped develop the field.

Wilhelm Wundt

German psychologist Wilhelm Wundt developed the first psychology lab in 1879. His work helped shape the experimental methods that are used by psychologists, including those that affect legal issues.

Alfred Binet

Alfred Binet, who co-founded the first French psychological laboratory in 1889, studied law and medicine and conducted research on witness testimony. He also developed the first psychometric intelligence test, along with colleague Theodore Simon, which was used as the blueprint for future forensic assessments. One example of how Binet's assessment was expanded is the Wechsler Intelligence test, which is used for juvenile court proceedings in the United States.

J. McKeen Cattell

In 1893, Columbia University professor J. McKeen Cattell conducted informal studies about the nature of witness testimony. During these experiments, he asked 56 students a series of questions that are similar to the types commonly used in a trial setting. After giving respondents 30 seconds to think about their answers, Cattell asked them how confident they were about their answers. Despite the fact that eyewitness testimony was already believed to be unreliable, Cattell admitted that he was surprised by the amount of inaccuracies there were among participating students.

Albert Von Schrenck-Notzing

In 1896, Albert Von Schrenck-Notzing became the first known psychologist to testify in court as an expert witness. While testifying during a murder case, Schrenck-Notzing used his research on memory to explain how the pretrial publicity of the case altered the recollections of witnesses during the proceedings.

William Stern

In 1901, William Stern conducted memory studies where he asked students to look at a picture for 45 seconds and recall what they saw. His results found that the more time that elapsed between viewing the photograph and answering his questions, the more inaccurate the subjects' memories were. Additionally Stern concluded that when subjects were asked leading questions with inaccurate information, they recalled false memories. This work led to further studies about the reliability of eyewitness testimony in trials.

Hugo Munsterberg

Hugo Munsterberg, who was a student of Wilhelm Wundt, is known in the field as the first true forensic psychologist. He spent his career promoting the advancement of forensic psychology and wrote "On the Witness Stand," which was published in 1908, as a way to advocate for the use of psychology in legal matters. Munsterberg's work included research on false confessions, hypnosis and the memory of witnesses.

References

• The Handbook of Forensic Psychology; Irving B. Weiner and Allen K. Hess; 1999
• All About Forensic Psychology
• General Information on Forensic Psychology Brief History