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Forensic psychology
Forensic psychology

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Week 1: Introduction to eyewitness psychology

Introduction

Crime dramas have become incredibly popular and many of us are used to seeing our favourite detectives cracking the case and arresting the criminal. In real life, cases are rarely straightforward, and there is often considerable uncertainty as to whether the person accused of the crime actually did it.

In this course, you will explore how psychological knowledge can be used to help prevent wrongful convictions and how it has helped obtain evidence from eyewitnesses. You will follow the investigation of an armed robbery, evaluate the evidence gathered and see if you can solve the case as well as the police did.

Watch the following video in which Graham Pike and Catriona Havard from The Open University introduce the course.

Download this video clip.Video player: ou_futurelearn_psychology_vid_1002.mp4
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Please note that this course deals with the investigation of serious crimes, including hearing from a victim of rape, and you should give careful consideration to how these sensitive issues might affect you personally.

Before you start, The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations of the course. Your input will help to further improve the online learning experience. If you’d like to help, please fill in this optional survey [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .