The phenomenology of carryover effects between show-up and line-up identification

This study explored carryover effects from show-ups to subsequent line-up identifications using a novel paradigm in which participants rendered multiple identification judgements. A total of 160 participants studied a series of faces and subsequently viewed a series of target-absent and target-present show-ups. Following a retention interval, participants then made identification judgements from a series of target-absent and target-present line-ups. Remember-Know-Guess judgements were collected to assess the phenomenological basis of carryover effects in face identification. Our results indicated clear carryover effects from show-ups to line-ups, such that repeated exposure to a face increased the likelihood that it would later be identified, regardless of whether or not it had been presented at the time of study. The phenomenological basis for these carryover effects is discussed, as are the implications of these findings for police conduct of multiple eyewitness identification procedures.     

Searching for the sequential line-up advantage: a distinctiveness explanation

Gronlund ( 2005 ) proposed that one factor leading to a sequential line-up advantage could be the greater likelihood of recollecting distinctive information about a perpetrator when using a sequential line-up. Since then questions have been raised about the robustness of the sequential advantage and the possible moderating role of line-up fairness and suspect position. We manipulated these factors as well as suspect/target distinctiveness in two experiments. A sequential advantage occurred only after encoding a distinctive target, both for biased line-ups (Experiment 1) and fair line-ups (Experiment 2). Remember-Know results were consistent with the greater use of a recall-to-reject strategy in target-absent sequential line-ups. This provided support for the first process-based explanation of the sequential line-up advantage. No consistent position effects were found, but this might be due to the line-up recognition paradigm used, in which each participant viewed a line-up for each of several targets. Theory-based explorations of eyewitness identification are necessary to continue to delineate the underpinnings of the sequential line-up advantage.     

Super-recognisers: Face recognition performance after variable delay intervals

Outstanding long-term face recognition of suspects is a hallmark of the exceptionally skilled police ‘super-recognisers’ (SRs). Yet, research investigating SR's memory for faces mainly employed brief retention intervals. Therefore, in Experiment 1, 597 participants (121 SRs) viewed 10 target videos and attempted identification of targets from 10 target-present line-ups after 1–56 days. In Experiment 2, 1,421 participants (301 SRs) viewed 20 target videos, and after a baseline of no delay to 28 days,—10 target-present and 10 target-absent line-ups, to assess correct line-up rejections. Overall, delay positively correlated with hits but not with correct rejections. Most, but not all SRs, made more correct identifications and correct rejections than controls at all retention intervals, demonstrating that many SRs possess enhanced long-term face memory. This research adds to the knowledge of SR's skillsets, and enhances the case for the selection of SRs to identity critical roles—particularly policing.     

Four heads are better than one: combining face composites yields improvements in face likeness

Four participants constructed face composites, of familiar and unfamiliar targets, using Pro-Fit, with reference images present or from memory. The "mean" of all 4 composites, created by morphing (4-morph) was rated as a better likeness than individual composites on average and was as good as the best individual likeness. When participants attempted to identify targets from line-ups, 4-morphs again performed as well as the best individual composite. In a second experiment, participants familiar with target women attempted to identify composites, and the trend showed better recognition from multiple composites, whether combined or shown together. In a line-up task with unfamiliar participants, 4-morphs produced most correct choices and fewest false positives from target-absent or target-present arrays. These results have practical implications for the way evidence from different witnesses is used in police investigations.     

Change detection inflates confidence on a subsequent recognition task

A face viewed under good encoding conditions is more likely to be remembered than a face viewed under poor encoding conditions. In four experiments we investigated how encoding conditions affected confidence in recognising faces from line-ups. Participants performed a change detection task followed by a recognition task and then rated how confident they were in their recognition accuracy. In the first two experiments the same faces were repeated across trials. In the final two experiments novel faces were used on each trial. Target-present and target-absent line-ups were utilised. In each experiment participants had greater recognition confidence after change detection than after change blindness. The finding that change detection inflates confidence, even for inaccurate recognitions, indicates recognition certainty can be a product of perceived encoding conditions rather than authentic memory strength.     

Change detection inflates confidence on a subsequent recognition task

A face viewed under good encoding conditions is more likely to be remembered than a face viewed under poor encoding conditions. In four experiments we investigated how encoding conditions affected confidence in recognising faces from line-ups. Participants performed a change detection task followed by a recognition task and then rated how confident they were in their recognition accuracy. In the first two experiments the same faces were repeated across trials. In the final two experiments novel faces were used on each trial. Target-present and target-absent line-ups were utilised. In each experiment participants had greater recognition confidence after change detection than after change blindness. The finding that change detection inflates confidence, even for inaccurate recognitions, indicates recognition certainty can be a product of perceived encoding conditions rather than authentic memory strength.     

Refining the blank line-up procedure: How should we instruct eyewitnesses?

Presenting a blank line-up—containing only fillers—to witnesses prior to showing a real line-up might be useful for screening out those who pick from the blank line-up as unreliable witnesses. We show that the effectiveness of this procedure varies depending on instructions given to witnesses. Participants (N = 462) viewed a simulated crime and attempted to identify the perpetrator from a line-up approximately 1 week later. Rejecting a blank line-up was associated with greater identification accuracy and greater diagnosticity of suspect identifications, but only when witnesses were instructed prior to the blank line-up that they would view a series of line-ups; the procedure was ineffective for screening when witnesses were advised they would view two line-ups or received no instruction. These results highlight the importance of instructions used in the blank line-up procedure, and the need for better understanding of how to interpret choosing patterns in this paradigm.     

The Confidence-Accuracy Relationship: The Effects of Confidence Assessment and Choosing1

Male and female college undergraduates were exposed to a staged theft. For half of the subjects, confidence judgments were assessed both before and after viewing a photo lineup. For the other half, confidence judgments were assessed only after viewing the lineup. Subjects in both conditions viewed a target-present or target-absent lineup under negativey biased, unbiased, or positively biased instructions. Across all subjects, confidence and accuracy were significantly correlated (r= .30). There was a significantly stronger relationship between confidence and accuracy among choosers (r= 50) than among nonchoosers (r= .14). Choosing and confidence did not correlate significantly with each other. Identification accuracy was significantly poorer when witnesses had been asked before viewing the lineup to state their confidence that they would make an accurate identification than when confidence was measured only after an identification had been attempted. However, the before-after manipulation did not affect the magnitude of the confidence-accuracy relationship. The present results offer some support for the general proposition that choosing and the timing of confidence assessments should be viewed as moderating variables in the interpretation of the confidence-accuracy relationship. These data offer little support for predictions based upon self-perception theory and are in direct disagreement with the widely held assertion that witnesses are confident in whatever choice they make, regardless of its correctness.     

Multiple confidence estimates as indices of eyewitness memory

Eyewitness identification decisions are vulnerable to various influences on witnesses' decision criteria that contribute to false identifications of innocent suspects and failures to choose perpetrators. An alternative procedure using confidence estimates to assess the degree of match between novel and previously viewed faces was investigated. Classification algorithms were applied to participants' confidence data to determine when a confidence value or pattern of confidence values indicated a positive response. Experiment 1 compared confidence group classification accuracy with a binary decision control group's accuracy on a standard old-new face recognition task and found superior accuracy for the confidence group for target-absent trials but not for target-present trials. Experiment 2 used a face mini-lineup task and found reduced target-present accuracy offset by large gains in target-absent accuracy. Using a standard lineup paradigm, Experiments 3 and 4 also found improved classification accuracy for target-absent lineups and, with a more sophisticated algorithm, for target-present lineups. This demonstrates the accessibility of evidence for recognition memory decisions and points to a more sensitive index of memory quality than is afforded by binary decisions.     

The confidence-accuracy relationship in eyewitness identification: effects of lineup instructions, foil similarity, and target-absent base rates

Discriminating accurate from mistaken eyewitness identifications is a major issue facing criminal justice systems. This study examined whether eyewitness confidence assists such decisions under a variety of conditions using a confidence-accuracy (CA) calibration approach. Participants (N = 1,200) viewed a simulated crime and attempted 2 separate identifications from 8-person target-present or target-absent lineups. Confidence and accuracy were calibrated for choosers (but not nonchoosers) for both targets under all conditions. Lower overconfidence was associated with higher diagnosticity, lower target-absent base rates, and shorter identification latencies. Although researchers agree that courtroom expressions of confidence are uninformative, our findings indicate that confidence assessments obtained immediately after a positive identification can provide a useful guide for investigators about the likely accuracy of an identification.     

Suggestiveness in photospread line-ups: Similarity induces distinctiveness

The present research examined whether line-ups based on target (‘suspect’) face similarity are biased or suggestive. Four experiments are described in which subjects constructed photographic line-ups by selecting foils similar in appearance to a target. Later, another group of subjects who had not seen the faces before (mock witnesses) were asked to pick out the targets from the line-ups. All four experiments showed that mock witnesses selected the target significantly more often than expected by chance, thereby demonstrating suggestiveness. Three alternative line-up construction methods were also evaluated. In these methods, foil selection was based not only on target similarity but also on similarity with one or more of the other line-up faces. Results showed that alternative line-up targets were not selected significantly more often than chance, suggesting that bias was reduced. An overall analysis showed that the alternative line-ups were significantly less suggestive than target-based line-ups. The results indicate that foil selection procedures that incorporate foil-to-foil similarity produce fairer line-ups than those exclusively based on target similarity.     

Are multiple-trial experiments appropriate for eyewitness identification studies? Accuracy,choosing, and confidence across trials

Eyewitness identification experiments typically involve a single trial: A participant views an event and subsequently makes a lineup decision. As compared to this single-trial paradigm, multiple-trial designs are more efficient, but significantly reduce ecological validity and may affect the strategies that participants use to make lineup decisions. We examined the effects of a number of forensically relevant variables (i.e., memory strength, type of disguise, degree of disguise, and lineup type) on eyewitness accuracy, choosing, and confidence across 12 target-present and 12 target-absent lineup trials (N?=?349; 8,376 lineup decisions). The rates of correct rejections and choosing (across both target-present and target-absent lineups) did not vary across the 24 trials, as reflected by main effects or interactions with trial number. Trial number had a significant but trivial quadratic effect on correct identifications (OR?=?0.99) and interacted significantly, but again trivially, with disguise type (OR?=?1.00). Trial number did not significantly influence participants’ confidence in correct identifications, confidence in correct rejections, or confidence in target-absent selections. Thus, multiple-trial designs appear to have minimal effects on eyewitness accuracy, choosing, and confidence. Researchers should thus consider using multiple-trial designs for conducting eyewitness identification experiments.     

The influence of alcohol and weapon presence on eyewitness memory and confidence

In this quasi-experimental field study, bar drinkers (0.00–0.23% blood alcohol content) viewed a photographic sequence in which a male took a laptop from a helpdesk assistant, either on loan or at gunpoint. Following a brief retention period, participants answered 20 multiple-choice questions about the male, his actions, and details of the scene, then attempted to identify him from a simultaneous target-present or target-absent line-up. Alcohol was associated with a reduction in correct identifications and an increase in false identifications. Surprisingly, the presence of a weapon in the scene enhanced identification accuracy, though wider scene memory was not influenced by alcohol or the weapon. Findings offer some support for the view that alcohol restricts face encoding, perhaps through the narrowing of attention to salient external features (e.g., hair). We also suggest that curiosity about mock-crime perpetrators may produce weapon focus reversals, although the factors that might elicit such curiosity remain unclear.     

Voice Identification Over the Telephone1

Following a telephone survey investigating attitudes toward police and frequency of personal victimization. 177 citizens between the ages of 18 and 88 years participated without forewarning in a field study on telephone voice identification. Identification accuracy (hits) improved with longer conversation durations (an average duration of 7.8 min compared to conversation durations of 3.2 min and 4.3 min. on average), but the false alarm rate also reliably increased with longer durations in a target-present lineup. False alarms were consistently high (overall M= .48) in the target-absent lineup. No significant differences were found in hit scores or false alarm scores over a two to three day retention interval. No significant correlation was found between confidence scores and accuracy of performance on the target-present lineup (r= .10). but a significant correlation (r= 36) was found on the target-absent lineup.     

Identification accuracy of a single culprit in a multiple-perpetrator mock crime

IntroductionEyewitness identification research has mainly examined the identification accuracy of a single perpetrator but many actual crimes involve not one but several perpetrators.ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to examine the identification accuracy if only one lineup for one of the two perpetrators is presented in a multiple perpetrator crime.MethodThe sample consisted of 180 participants who saw a theft video followed by distraction tasks. One group of participants saw lineups for both of the perpetrators (one target present and one target-absent) whereas the other saw only a single lineup (either target-present or target-absent) for one of the two perpetrators.ResultsParticipants who saw a single lineup did not make more inaccurate identification decisions then participants who saw two lineups. Decision accuracy in the first lineup was not associated with the decision accuracy in the second lineup.ConclusionThe results are discussed in terms of the number of perpetrators and line-up presentation types.     

Face and voice identifications in showups and lineups

Witnesses were asked to identify a young adult female target to whom they had spoken for 15 seconds five minutes earlier in a naturalistic field setting. Subjects were given a single facial photograph or a single tape-recorded voice of either the target or a highly similar foil, or a target-present or target-absent six-person photo lineup or six-person voice lineup. Identification of the target was superior in the six-person photo lineup than in the one-person photo lineup when choices were corrected for guessing. False identifications of the ‘innocent’ suspect did not differ in one-person and six-person photo lineups. However, the diagnosticity index indicated that witnesses were twice as likely to be more accurate than inaccurate in making a selection with the six-person photo lineup than in the one-person lineup. Performance was poor in both one-person and six-person voice lineups. With the exception of the target-absent one-person photo lineup, no significant correlations were found between confidence and performance.     

Effects of postidentification feedback on eyewitness identification and nonidentification confidence

Two experiments investigated new dimensions of the effect of confirming feedback on eyewitness identification confidence using target-absent and target-present lineups and (previously unused) unbiased witness instructions (i.e., "offender not present" option highlighted). In Experiment 1, participants viewed a crime video and were later asked to try to identify the thief from an 8-person target-absent photo array. Feedback inflated witness confidence for both mistaken identifications and correct lineup rejections. With target-present lineups in Experiment 2, feedback inflated confidence for correct and mistaken identifications and lineup rejections. Although feedback had no influence on the confidence-accuracy correlation, it produced clear overconfidence. Confidence inflation varied with the confidence measure reference point (i.e., retrospective vs. current confidence) and identification response latency.     

相似性信息的激活对情境性表征影响的年龄差异

使用视觉搜索范式研究了6岁、9岁、12岁和成人,在限时和不限时呈现材料条件下对实物图形的视觉搜索及再认。结果表明:1)限时和不限时视觉搜索任务方式对视觉搜索和再认的准确性、反应时均有显著影响。2)视觉搜索和再认的准确性随被试年龄的增长而提高,反应时则随其年龄增长而缩短。3)靶项目是否作为搜索项目出现对视觉搜索和再认的准确性没有显著影响,但对视觉搜索和再认的反应时有显著影响,靶项目的出现使视觉搜索和再认的反应时都显著缩短。4)搜索项性质对视觉搜索和再认的反应时指标有显著影响,但对准确性没有显著影响。     

The confidence-accuracy relationship in eyewitness identification: the effects of reflection and disconfirmation on correlation and calibration

Participants viewed a simulated crime and attempted an identification from an 8-person target-present or target-absent lineup. The authors examined identification confidence-accuracy relations, contrasting a control condition (n = 310) with 2 manipulations designed to improve confidence scaling. Before indicating confidence, participants reflected on encoding and identification test conditions (n = 316) or suggested hypotheses about why their identification decision might have been wrong (n = 318). Confidence-accuracy correlations were weak and did not differ across conditions. However, for positive identifications, confidence and accuracy were well calibrated in the experimental conditions, although not in the control condition; similar patterns were observed for lineup rejections. Explanations for calibration differences in terms of discrimination difficulty, (mis)match between encoding and test stimuli, and the availability of confidence cues were advanced.     

The “other-accent” effect in voice recognition

The current paper examines an “other-accent” effect when recognising voices. English and Scottish listeners were tested with English and Scottish voices using a sequential lineup method. The results suggested greater accuracy for own-accent voices than for other-accent voices under both target-present and target-absent conditions. Moreover, self-rated confidence in response to target-absent lineups suggested greater confidence for own-accent voices than other-accent voices. As predicted, the other-accent effect noted here emerged more strongly for English listeners than for Scottish listeners, and these results are discussed within an expertise framework alongside both other-race effects in face recognition, and other-accent effects in word recognition. Given these results, caution is advised in the treatment of earwitness evidence when recognising a voice of another accent.