eprintid: 10204713 rev_number: 7 eprint_status: archive userid: 699 dir: disk0/10/20/47/13 datestamp: 2025-02-13 09:08:29 lastmod: 2025-02-13 09:08:29 status_changed: 2025-02-13 09:08:29 type: article metadata_visibility: show sword_depositor: 699 creators_name: Almazrouei, Mohammed A creators_name: Dror, Itiel E creators_name: Morgan, Ruth M creators_name: Dan, Ohad creators_name: Paterson, Megan creators_name: Levy, Ifat title: Human factors in triaging forensic Items: Casework pressures and ambiguity aversion ispublished: inpress divisions: UCL divisions: B04 divisions: F52 keywords: Forensic Decision-Making, Human Factors, Triaging, Casework Pressure, Ambiguity Aversion note: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. abstract: Triaging is an important step in deciding which items collected from crime scenes to select for forensic analysis, and so subsequent examination and findings often depend on it. This study aims to evaluate the influence of casework pressures and tolerance to ambiguity on triaging of items collected from a crime scene. A realistic pressure manipulation paradigm was developed and was found to be effective in inducing feelings of pressure in participants in an online setting. This pressure manipulation did not affect triaging decisions for both triaging experts (N = 48) and non-experts (N = 98). However, the results revealed inconsistent decisions, even among experts under identical pressure conditions and comparable background demographics. The findings also suggest that ambiguity aversion is an important factor to consider, as it can play a role in early hypotheses (e.g., reaching a decisive or inconclusive impression about a case), among other considerations. This study offers valuable insight for the development of policies for more consistent forensic triaging decisions. date: 2025-02 date_type: published publisher: Elsevier BV official_url: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scijus.2025.02.001 full_text_type: other language: eng verified: verified_manual elements_id: 2360090 doi: 10.1016/j.scijus.2025.02.001 lyricists_name: Morgan, Ruth lyricists_id: RMORG06 actors_name: Flynn, Bernadette actors_id: BFFLY94 actors_role: owner full_text_status: restricted publication: Science & Justice issn: 1355-0306 citation: Almazrouei, Mohammed A; Dror, Itiel E; Morgan, Ruth M; Dan, Ohad; Paterson, Megan; Levy, Ifat; (2025) Human factors in triaging forensic Items: Casework pressures and ambiguity aversion. Science & Justice 10.1016/j.scijus.2025.02.001 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scijus.2025.02.001>. (In press). document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10204713/1/1-s2.0-S1355030625000164-main.pdf