A lot of this blog is about exposing the limitations of assays and those performing the assays in forensic science. The truth is that very few forensic science disciplines involve assays and methods that have been truly validated. A lot of the folks performing the methods and testing are untrained, non-credentialed, nontechnical glorified traffic cops.

All of this leads us to one conclusion: Everyone needs to become a skeptic of forensic science. Skepticism is not only warranted, but demanded. Verification of validation is demanded. Verification of process undertaken is demanded.

A great illustration comes from an experiment that was conducted in the 1970’s. It was called for “Dr. Fox Effect.”

Psychologists designed an experiment to determine how would a medical audience full of highly educated and classically trained scientists and medical personnel respond to a lecture that was completely devoid of content, yet delivered with authority by a convincing phony?

The presenter was an actor who was provided with a fake lecture composed largely of impressive-sounding gibberish. He delivered the lecture wearing a white coat to three medical audiences under the title “Mathematical Game Theory as Applied to Physician Education.”

The presenter with the gibberish for a lecture was “programmed to teach charismatically and nonsubstantively on a topic about which he knew nothing.” The topics covered were full of meaningless cliches, and even downright contradictions.

The findings were that even these highly educated and classically trained audiences believed that the gibberish was authoritative and was substantive. The audiences held fifty-five psychiatrists, psychologists, educators, graduate students, and other professionals produced evaluations of Dr. Fox that were overwhelmingly positive.

How does a judge have a chance?

How does a lay jury have a chance?

Source: Donald H. Naftulin, John E. Ware, Jr., and Frank A. Donnelly, “The Doctor Fox Lecture: A Paradigm of Educational Seduction”, Journal of Medical Education 48 (1973): 630-635; R. Williams and J. Ware, “Validity of student ratings of instruction under different incentive conditions: A further study of the Dr. Fox effect”, Journal of Educational Psychology 68 (1976): 48–56.