The DOI matches its Crossref record; 1 of the 1 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Contextual information in medicolegal death investigation decision-making: Manner of death determination for cases of a single gunshot wound
Open accessAbstract
To explore the role of contextual information in determining manner of death, four cases involving single gunshot wounds were presented to participants (n = 252) involved in medicolegal death investigation. The participants received identical autopsy information but different contextual information. The data demonstrated that participants tended to rely on contextual information more than autopsy information: In the suicide context, participants across the four cases reached 153 final decisions of suicide (and 25 of homicide), whereas in the homicide context, participants reached only 10 final decisions of suicide (and 181 of homicide) --all while examining identical autopsy information. The impact of the contextual information was so powerful that many participants changed initial autopsy-based conclusions to align with the contextual information. Given the significant role and impact that contextual information has on expert decision making, one must consider what, how, and when contextual information should be used.
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When bias is powerful enough, it can override an evidence-based decision, modifying it to fit the bias.
“An example of that in the justice and legal systems is when the bias is so powerful that it will override the evidence-based decision, so an existing evidenced-based decision (e.g., did the person die as a result of homicide or suicide) is modified to fit the bias (I. E. Dror et al., 2022).”
From Biased and biasing: the hidden bias cascade and bias snowball effects (2025) · cites this paper as I. E. Dror et al., 2022
The Abstract and Discussion report that participants changed initial autopsy-based manner-of-death conclusions to align with contextual information. But the paper does not establish that those changes were made to fit a bias: it says contextual information can be relevant and that autopsy findings contributed relatively little in these single-gunshot-wound cases. The claim’s description of the changes as bias overriding an evidence-based decision goes beyond that finding. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredContextual information can determine decisions when identical evidence is presented.
“Contextual information can have such a strong and biasing effect to a level that it may not only determine the decisions (when identical evidence is presented)”
From Biased and biasing: the hidden bias cascade and bias snowball effects (2025) · cites this paper as I. E. Dror et al., 2022
Contextual information can override the evidence-based decision, so the decision is modified to fit the contextual information.
“but it can even override the evidence-based decision, so the decision is modified to fit the contextual information (I. E. Dror et al., 2022)”
From Biased and biasing: the hidden bias cascade and bias snowball effects (2025) · cites this paper as I. E. Dror et al., 2022
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Cites
Cognitive biases associated with medical decisions: a systematic review
Saposnik, G., Redelmeier, D., Ruff, C. C., & Tobler, P. N. (2016) · BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making · doi:10.1186/s12911-016-0377-1 · Cited by 1,001
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Research works printed but not linked: 10
- Drake, 2011, Essential medicolegal death investigation services: standardization of a survey instrument based on the Essential Public Health Services, J. Forensic Sci., 56, 1034, 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2011.01783.x · DOI
- Nickerson, 1998, Confirmation bias: a ubiquitous phenomenon in many guises, Rev. Gen. Psychol., 2, 175, 10.1037/1089-2680.2.2.175 · DOI · Paper page
- Arif, 2021, Gaps in measuring and mitigating implicit bias in healthcare, Front. Pharmacol., 12, 633565, 10.3389/fphar.2021.633565 · DOI
- Gaudino, 2013, Acute aortic pathology, Munchausen Syndrome, and confirmation bias, J. Emerg. Med., 45, e183, 10.1016/j.jemermed.2013.05.067 · DOI
- Green, 2003, The unequal burden of pain: confronting racial and ethnic disparities in pain, Pain Med., 4, 277, 10.1046/j.1526-4637.2003.03034.x · DOI · Paper page
- Dror, 2020, Cognitive and human factors in expert decision making: six fallacies and the eight sources of bias, Anal. Chem., 92, 7998, 10.1021/acs.analchem.0c00704 · DOI · Paper page
- Dror, 2021, Cognitive bias in forensic pathology decisions, J. Forensic Sci., 66, 1751, 10.1111/1556-4029.14697 · DOI
- Dror, 2021, Linear Sequential Unmasking–Expanded (LSU-E): a general approach for improving decision making as well as minimizing noise and bias, Forensic Sci. Int.: Synergy, 3, 100161
- Quigley-McBride, 2022, A practical tool for information management in forensic decisions: using Linear Sequential Unmasking-Expanded (LSU-E) in casework, Forensic Sci. Int.: Synergy, 4
- Eeden, 2019, The forensic confirmation bias: a comparison between experts and novices, J. Forensic Sci., 64, 120, 10.1111/1556-4029.13817 · DOI · Paper page
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Biased and biasing: the hidden bias cascade and bias snowball effects
Dror, I. E. (2025) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs15040490 · Cited by 29
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Metadata
- Authors
- Dror, I. E., Wolf, D. A., Phillips, G., Gao, S., Yang, Y., & Drake, S. A.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences (US)
- Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office (US)
- The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (US)
- Texas A&M University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Dror, Itiel E.
- Venue
- Forensic Science International: Synergy
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022
- Volume
- 5
- Pages
- 100285
- ISSN
- 2589-871X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9780396
- OpenAlex
- W4294415608
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4
- FWCI
- 1.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Forensic Science International Synergy (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Autopsy Techniques and Outcomes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Family Practice › Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills
- Social Sciences › Law › Jury Decision Making Processes
- Keywords
- contextual information, manner of death determination, death investigation, gunshot wounds, suicide versus homicide, autopsy findings, cognitive biases, forensic psychiatry
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