ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the state of what is known about investigative decision-making. It outlines various approaches to researching the topic and describes factors that may influence investigators' judgments and decisions. The chapter begins with an introduction to the types of activity that constitute criminal investigation. Traditional theories of decision-making have tended to focus primarily on the decision-making of individuals within tightly controlled research frameworks and examine basic cognitive processes. Naturalistic decision-making tends to focus on experienced individuals in the field and describes how decisions are made, as opposed to prescribing how to optimise between a limited numbers of decision choices. Most criminal investigations are carried out under a certain amount of time pressure stemming from various sources. Preliminary evidence thus suggests that emotions are a potential source of bias that could make it difficult for investigators to remain entirely impartial and objective.
