Forensic Psychology: Witness Investigation Course - The Open University
FutureLearn
Key Information
Campus location
Languages
English
Study format
Distance learning
Duration
8 weeks
Pace
Part time
Tuition fees
USD 74 / per course *
Application deadline
Request Info
Earliest start date
Request Info
* you can learn it for free or upgrade the course and have extra benefits for $74
Introduction
Discover how psychology can help obtain evidence from eyewitnesses in police investigations and prevent miscarriages of justice.
Try to solve a crime using nothing but eyewitness evidence
Despite advances in forensic science, eyewitness testimony remains a critical component of criminal investigations. But psychological research has revealed the dangers of relying on this testimony and how careful the police must be when questioning witnesses.
Using videos of real witnesses, from behind the scenes of a police investigation, this course explores the psychology of eyewitness testimony.
You will get the chance to test your own cognitive skills and see if your investigative powers are as good as police officers’, as you try to solve a crime using nothing but eyewitness evidence.
When would you like to start?
Most FutureLearn courses run multiple times. Every run of a course has a set start date but you can join it and work through it after it starts.
- Available now
- 4 October 2021
Who will you learn with?
| Graham Pike Graham is a psychologist & Professor of Forensic Cognition at the OU, with an interest in applied cognition, particularly how psychological knowledge can be used to obtain evidence from eyewitnesses. | Zoe Walkington Zoe is a psychologist with an interest in how psychology relates to police investigations. She is a senior lecturer in the School of Psychology at the Open University. |
Who developed this course?
The Open University
The Open University (OU) is the largest academic institution in the UK and a world leader in flexible distance learning, with a mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas.
Curriculum
What topics will you cover
- Eyewitness testimony
- Witness memory
- Inattentional blindness and observation of criminal incidents
- Interviewing witnesses
- Facial recognition
- Visual identification
Program Outcome
What will you achieve
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to:
- Investigate and understand the psychology of eyewitness testimony.
- Develop your own investigative skills.
- Explore human cognition and discover the mistakes your own brain can make.
- Discuss concepts of a criminal investigation.
- Explore and consider the relationship between the limitations of the human brain and miscarriages of justice.
Program Tuition Fee
Ideal Students
Who is the course for
This course is intended for those with an interest in psychology and/or criminal investigation and does not require any previous experience of studying either subject.