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                            Funding & Awards
 Error Rates for Latent Fingerprinting as a Function ofVisual Complexity and Cognitive Difficulty
Award Information
Awardee
              The Regents of the University of California
Award #
              2009-DN-BX-K225
Funding Category
              Competitive
Location
                    Los Angeles, CA
Congressional District
              33
Status
              Closed
Funding First Awarded
              2009
Total funding (to date)
              $866,674
Original Solicitation
              NIJ FY 09 Fundamental Research to Improve Understanding of the Accuracy, Reliability, and Measurement Validity of Forensic Science Disciplines
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2009, $866,674)
The goal of this project is to develop and validate a quantifiable metric of difficulty, and then to examine error rates as a function of difficulty.  In this proposal, the researchers will develop difficulty measures that combine visual complexity measures and cognitive difficulty measures. They will first construct a database of prints and establish ground truth (Phase 1). Phase 2 will use a variety of approaches to develop a metric of visual complexity of the prints. The researchers will then test and validate the metrics by examining cognitive difficulty, using signal detection theory (SDT), human psychophysical methods, and qualitative expert-based difficulty rating measurements (Phase 3). These results combined will assist the researchers to develop a quantifiable and validated assessment tool, allowing a difficulty rating to be associated with any given latent print or comparison. 



Finally, using this hierarchy of fingerprint comparison difficulty, the researchers will investigate the error rates, if any, associated with comparisons of varying degrees of difficulty, using ecologically valid studies with qualified and experienced latent print forensic examiners (Phase 4). 

ca/ncf



  
Grant-Funded Publications
        
                      Defining the Difficulty of Fingerprint Comparisons
                  Error Rates for Latent Fingerprinting as a Function of Visual Complexity and Cognitive Difficulty
                  Forensic Comparison and Matching of Fingerprints: Using Quantitative Image Measures for Estimating Error Rates Through Understanding and Predicting Difficulty
                  Vision in Blind Justice: Expert Perception, Judgment, and Visual Cognition in Forensic Pattern Recognition

  
Date Created: September 9, 2009
    
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