NCJ Number
229756
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice Volume: 52 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2010 Pages: 79-95
Date Published
January 2010
Length
17 pages
Annotation
Using a sample of police officers from the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, this study explored whether modeling could be used to test if the decisionmaking process employed by the officers could determine the genuineness of suicide notes.
Abstract
We examined the extent to which the decisionmaking process employed by police officers when making judgments regarding the veracity of suicide notes could be modeled accurately by the Matching Heuristic (MH). Thirty-six officers each read 30 randomly selected suicide notes and were asked to decide whether each was genuine or fake. Results indicate that the fast and frugal MH model is an accurate approximation of the officers' decisionmaking. However, the officers performed at chance levels with respect to the absolute accuracy of their decisions. The implications of these findings for modeling professionals' decisions and potential police training programs are discussed. Tables, figure, and references (Published Abstract)