Professor Emeritus of Criminology, Law, and Society; Psychology and Social Behavior; and Law
Ph.D. Stanford University, J.D. University of California, Berkeley
(949) 824-6156
william.thompson@uci.edu
2355 Social Ecology II
Department:
Criminology, Law and Society
Specializations:
forensic science; expert evidence; human judgment and decision making
I am interested in human factors associated with forensic science evidence, including contextual and cognitive bias in forensic analysis and the commuication of scientific findings to lawyers and juries. I have written about strengths and limitations of various types of forensic science evidence, particularly DNA evidence, and about the ability of lay juries to evaluate evidence. My work is multidisciplinary, it involves law, psychology, various areas of biology (particularly genetics and molecular biology), and statistics.
Copies of some recent publication can be found on my SSRN Author Page.
Podcast
Interview with Vanderbilt Law School Professor Edward Cheng for the Podcast Excited Utterance
Videos of Recent Public Lectures
Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge
November 8, 2016: Elicitation of Priors in Bayesian Modeling of DNA Evidence
September 29, 2016: Using Bayesian Networks to Analyze What Experts Need to Know (and When they Know Too Much)
August 31, 2016: Lay Understanding (and Misunderstanding) of Quantitative Statements about the Weight of Forensic Evidence
NIST Technical Colloquium: Quantifying the Weight of Forensic Evidence
May 12, 2016: Lay Reactions to Quantitative Statements About the Weight of Forensic Science Evidence
Statistics and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute (SAMSI)
December 1, 2015: Cognitive Bias in Forensic Science
September 1, 2015: Managing Contextual Bias in Forensic Science
NIST International Forensic Symposium: Forensic Science Error Management
July 24, 2015: Plenary Presentation (Day 4 Morning General Session): What is the Proper Evidentiary Basis for a Forensic Science Opinion?
Video Training Materials for Lawyers
Understanding Forensic Statistics
Part I: Quantification
Part II: Classification
Part III: Comparison/Identification