The beginnings of Forensic Psychology

Not all forensics is a search of the crimscene. When people are involved the need for Forensic Psychology becomes center stage. Some of the beginings of forensic psychology started in 1895 with the work of J McKeen Cattell of Columbia Universery. The early work was noted to to have a great degree of inaccuracy which generated intrest among the psychological community. The earliest studies were on witness recall, and why multiple witnesses who saw the same thing would have different details. The studies of other psychologists now interested in the work have led to studies showing that emotions decrease the accuracy of witness recall. This was pointed out by Stern in 1939, who using these studies went to create the first academic journal about Applied Psychology, or Forensic Psychology.