Observation Skills

A fact is a statement or assertion of information that can be verified 

• True 
• False 

What we perceive about persons depends, in part, on their mannerisms and gestures.  

• True 
• False 

Through our senses of sight, taste, hearing, smell, and touch, we gather information every single moment abot what is around us.

• True 
• False 

Our emotional state influences our ability to see and hear what is happening around us. 

• True
• False 

The first task of forensic scientists is to find, examine, and evaluate evidence from a crime scene.  

• True 
• False 

One of the most important tools of the forensic investigator is the ability to:

• observe, interpret and report observations clearly
• Observe assumptions clearly 
• Report assumptions clearly 
• None of the choices 

Preception:

• Is faulty
• Is not always accurate 
• Does not always reflect reality
• All of the choices apply 

Criminal investigations depend on the observation skills of all involved.  Those involved include:

• Police investigators
• Forensic scientists 
• Witnesses
• All of the choices 

The Innocence Project at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law was created by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld in 1992.  Its purpose was to reexamine post-conviction cases (individuals convicted and in prison) using: 

• DNA evidence to provide conclusive proof o innocence
• DNA evidence to provide conclusive proof of guilt 
• Eyewitness accounts to provide conclusive proof of innocence 
• Circumstantial evidence to provide conclusive proof of innocence 

Forensic derives from the Latin word, forensis, which means:

• Of the day
• Of the month 
• Of the consensus
• Of the forum