Linear Sequential Unmasking (LSU)
Definition
A protocol in which an analyst processes evidence in a fixed order and receives case context only at the stage where it becomes scientifically necessary, with each stage documented before the next is revealed, to prevent contextual information from contaminating the primary analysis.
Related terms
- Black-Box Study
- A study in which qualified examiners are given realistic test cases with known ground truth and asked to make decisions under conditions...
- Confirmation Bias
- The cognitive tendency to search for, interpret, favour, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or...
- Contextual Bias
- The influence of case-relevant background information (suspect financial difficulties, police intelligence) on the direction of an examiner's technical analysis. Demonstrated experimentally for...
- Foundational Validity
- The requirement, articulated in the 2009 US National Academy of Sciences report and taken up by courts and reform bodies, that a...
- PCAST
- The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, a US federal advisory body. Its 2016 report 'Forensic Science in Criminal Courts:...
Explained in
- Cognitive Bias and the 2009 NAS ReportA protocol in which an analyst processes evidence in a fixed order and receives case context only at the stage where it becomes scientifically necessary, with...