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Article: Criminal investigative failures: avoiding the pitfalls (Part two).
- Article from:
- The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin
- Article date:
- October 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Federal Bureau of Investigation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Part one of this article focused on cognitive biases and how they can contribute to criminal investigative failures. Part two presents probability errors and organizational traps that can lead investigations astray. It also offers recommendations and additional strategies that investigators may find helpful.
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PROBABILITY ERRORS
Probability and Psychology
Anyone who has spent a few hours watching people gamble will realize that probability is a difficult concept for the human mind. Individuals often use heuristics--and suffer from biases--when dealing with probability. Police officers find it particularly hard to ...