Forensic Psychology: The Search for Utmost Accuracy by Sidney

Forensic Psychology: The Search for Utmost Accuracy by Sidney - August 2017 Scholarship Essay

In thirty years I can see myself standing in front of 100 students staring at the projector, if we are talking about the future, a hologram of some sorts may seem more appropriate. They are looking at a video, a very vintage, old-school video with outdated 90's fashion. There are 6 people, 3 with white shirts the rest with black shirts. The instructions read: "count how many times the players wearing white pass the basketball." The video pass and most students are observant and focusing on the basketball. Without most of their knowledge, a man in a gorilla suit walks through the chaos and even takes a break to pound his chest. I end the video and successfully introduce the topic - selective attention.
I take the chance to explain the integration between psychology and law enforcement. How selective attention affects a detectives ability to collect evidence. How selective attention makes it difficult for a witness to remember minute details such as: a license plate, the color of the perpetrator's hair, and the height of the perpetrator.
After more details on other difficulties our brains inflict upon a witness' memory, my Forensic Psychology class would end.
I have a passion for Forensic Psychology, I believe that Psychology should be one of law enforcement's main assets, and my dream is to one day become a Forensic Psychologist. My research would be focused on improving the accuracy of evidence collecting, most importantly, to reduce the amount of false convictions.
I would teach this class to increase the amount of attention to this misunderstood subject. I wouldn't boast NCIS or Law and Order, but rather correct the misconceptions they teach to the public, just to ensure that the public, whether it be future jury members or specifically future detectives and lawyers don't make the same mistakes that destroy the chance of a fair trial.