That is very interesting. And of course, you're right about the fictional detective being the hero, and so why wouldn't the ME be on their side?
The technical bit that always gets me is lineups. I remember hearing in university that sequential lineups produce superior results to parallel lineups--fewer false positives, without affecting the number of correct identifications. Apparently if you see every suspect at once, your brain tends to look for the face that most closely matches the one you remember, whereas if you're given only one at a time, with no hint as to what's coming next, your brain tries harder for an exact match. But of course, looking at one photo at a time makes for pretty poor television compared to leading a witness into a room to gaze at the suspect through a one-way mirror, so I don't see police procedurals adopting that method any time soon.
no subject
The technical bit that always gets me is lineups. I remember hearing in university that sequential lineups produce superior results to parallel lineups--fewer false positives, without affecting the number of correct identifications. Apparently if you see every suspect at once, your brain tends to look for the face that most closely matches the one you remember, whereas if you're given only one at a time, with no hint as to what's coming next, your brain tries harder for an exact match. But of course, looking at one photo at a time makes for pretty poor television compared to leading a witness into a room to gaze at the suspect through a one-way mirror, so I don't see police procedurals adopting that method any time soon.