| To fully appreciate a subject it's important to be aware | | | | included as part of the preparation for the trial (which |
| of the key historical figures who helped shape its | | | | for obvious reasons never actually took place) of Lee |
| identity. This article identifies a number of individuals | | | | Harvey Oswald to help address the question of how |
| who did just that within the field of forensic | | | | many shots had been fired during the assassination of |
| psychology. | | | | President Kennedy. |
| Wilhelm Wundt | | | | William Marston |
| In terms of a tangible landmark in the history of | | | | Another important visionary in the history of forensic |
| forensic psychology the most significant development | | | | psychology. Marston was a student under |
| was the founding of the first psychological laboratory | | | | Munsterberg who conducted research into the |
| in 1873 by Wilhelm Wundt in Leipzig Germany. | | | | physiological effects of deception i.e. lie detector tests. |
| Wilhelm Wundt championed and refined the | | | | Alfred Binet |
| experimental method within psychology. This rigorous | | | | In 1889 Alfred Binet co-founded the first psychological |
| methodology provided the framework for a whole | | | | laboratory in France. Having studied medicine and law |
| host of applied psychological investigations, among | | | | he was interested in how psychology could be applied |
| them certain legal issues. For instance, a number of | | | | within the legal system, particularly in relation to witness |
| experiments were conducted into the nature of | | | | testimony. However, it was Binet's work into intellectual |
| witness testimony, the findings of which highlighted the | | | | assessment that was to have the greatest forensic |
| effects of situational and individual differences; which | | | | impact. Working alongside Theodore Simon, he |
| incidentally are still being examined today. | | | | developed the first psychometric test of intelligence, |
| Hugo Munsterberg | | | | the principles of which proved the basis for later |
| An engaging and controversial figure Hugo | | | | forensic assessment. For instance, in the US the |
| Munsterberg was a key figure in the history of | | | | Wechsler Intelligence test for children was regularly |
| forensic psychology. He studied under Wundt at | | | | employed as part of proceedings within juvenile court. |
| Leipzg before moving to the USA in 1892 to set up an | | | | Later, group testing became extremely popular, |
| experimental laboratory at Harvard; the principal aim of | | | | particularly within the armed services as a way of |
| which was to introduce applied psychology into the | | | | selecting recruits and before long objective tests were |
| courtroom. | | | | being employed across a host of professions and for |
| He conducted research into witness memory, false | | | | a variety of purposes as a means of measuring |
| confessions and the role of hypnosis in court. One of | | | | behavioural traits, skills, attitudes etc. Significantly for the |
| his earliest experiments tested subjects' ability to | | | | practice of forensic psychology this included the |
| discriminate between sounds heard in quick | | | | judiciary who began allowing test results to be |
| succession. Almost sixty years later his findings were | | | | presented as evidence in court. |