Fiction unlike real life has to absorb the observer from the very beginning and maintain interest. Real life can be exciting but most of the time is habitual, can be dull and most of the time lies on a spectrum between the two. Once this is understood it is fairly simple to see how producers will shorten discoveries to facilitate sustained interest.
CSI is a good example from a forensics point of view where lab results are returned almost instantly. And the truth is always discovered.
In television shows featuring forensic psychologists, very rarely will you see the protagonist engaged in monotonous paperwork. The way the protagonist deliberates is often shown in shortened sequences so that they seem perspicuous and sage-like even in doubt.
After the protagonist wrestles with some fact of the case in hand, they will almost inevitably always arrive at the truth - which can often seem as if they have used deductive logic rather than inferential logic to get to their conclusion - this is a subtle point but an important one.
In conclusion, these shows are not 'bad' and they can give us some idea and process of forensic psychology as well as entertain us, but they are not a go to for the beginner wanting to learn more.
Fiction unlike real life has to absorb the observer from the very beginning and maintain interest. Real life can be exciting but most of the time is habitual, can be dull and most of the time lies on a spectrum between the two. Once this is understood it is fairly simple to see how producers will shorten discoveries to facilitate sustained interest.
CSI is a good example from a forensics point of view where lab results are returned almost instantly. And the truth is always discovered.
In television shows featuring forensic psychologists, very rarely will you see the protagonist engaged in monotonous paperwork. The way the protagonist deliberates is often shown in shortened sequences so that they seem perspicuous and sage-like even in doubt.
After the protagonist wrestles with some fact of the case in hand, they will almost inevitably always arrive at the truth - which can often seem as if they have used deductive logic rather than inferential logic to get to their conclusion - this is a subtle point but an important one.
In conclusion, these shows are not 'bad' and they can give us some idea and process of forensic psychology as well as entertain us, but they are not a go to for the beginner wanting to learn more.