Sequential unmasking
An information-sequencing protocol in which the examiner receives the questioned material first, completes and documents the analysis before receiving the known standards, and receives broader case context only after completing and documenting the comparison. Designed to prevent contextual bias from influencing pattern-recognition decisions.
Explained in these topics
- Expert Witness Testimony and Cognitive Bias Mitigation
- The ACE-V Method for Handwriting Comparison
- Dror 2006 Cognitive Bias and the Bias-Mitigation Toolkit
- Major Fingerprint Error Cases: Mayfield, McKie and Indian Precedents
- ACE-V Methodology and the Brandon Mayfield Madrid Bombing Error
- Cognitive Bias, Expert Testimony and the 2009 NAS Critique