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The two-high threshold eyewitness identification model was applied to investigate the effects of lineup position on the latent cognitive processes underlying eyewitness responses in lineups. In two experiments with large sample sizes and random assignment of culprits and innocent suspects to all possible lineup positions, we examined how detection-based and non-detection-based processes vary across the positions of six-person photo lineups. Experiment 1 (N = 2586) served to investigate position effects in simultaneous lineups in which all photos were presented in a single row. Experiment 2 (N = 2581) was focused on sequential lineups. In both experiments, lineup position had no effect on the detection of the presence of the culprit. Guessing-based selection, in contrast, differed as a function of lineup position. Specifically, a lineup member placed in the first position in a lineup was significantly more likely to be selected based on guessing than lineup members placed in other positions. These results justify the practice of avoiding to place the suspect in the first position in a lineup, as this placement increases the suspect's chance of being selected based on guessing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past 45 years, psychological scientists have invested a tremendous amount of effort into increasing the accuracy of suspect identifications from eyewitness lineup procedures. Those efforts have paid dividends, leading to the development of several practices that increase the accuracy of suspect identifications. Meanwhile, lineup rejections have largely been written off as lacking diagnostic value and little effort has been placed into understanding (1) why lineup rejections are less diagnostic than suspect identifications, and (2) how to increase the diagnostic value of lineup rejections. We show that preventing innocent-suspect identifications is not equivalent to demonstrating innocence and highlight several consequences of not being able to clear innocent suspects from police suspicion. We then review recent evidence, grounded in Signal Detection Theory, suggesting that lineup rejections are less diagnostic than suspect identifications because it is harder to reject a lineup of several faces than it is to identify a single face. When lineups are modified so that witnesses provide rejection ratings for each non-identified lineup member, rejection accuracy drastically increases. We highlight several questions for future research examining the potential for eyewitness memory to demonstrate innocence and question what impact suspect rejections might play in multiple-witness cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research indicates that mock jurors place too much weight on eyewitness confidence expressed in the courtroom rather than confidence expressed immediately after an identification, though eyewitness identification research clearly shows that only the latter is indicative of guilt. Researchers rarely present mock jurors with photo arrays, which could help them to better understand the eyewitness' point of view. Across three experiments, potential jurors viewed photo arrays and hypothetical eyewitness confidence statements described as coming either immediately after the identification or much later in the courtroom. In Experiment 1, suspect guilt was rated as more likely when immediate or courtroom confidence was high. Experiment 2 reduced suspect guilt estimates associated with high courtroom confidence by providing partial Henderson instructions. Experiment 3 replicated this effect and found that simple directives from an eyewitness identification expert were even more beneficial in helping potential jurors correctly evaluate confidence based on timing. We recommend that eyewitness experts be allowed to instruct jurors not to trust confidence expressed at trial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Any wrongful conviction causes severe violations to the individual, their loved ones, the criminal justice system, and the validity of justice. While Anglo-American countries have focused on wrongful convictions since the 1930s, some Asian contexts have only considered these unjust errors within the scope of their legal approaches since the 2010s. To investigate this issue, this paper conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) of the Scopus and Google Scholar databases, collecting 36 English peer-reviewed articles from 710 publications between 2010 and 2021. Our two primary goals include: 1) reviewing the scope and response of Asian countries to wrongful convictions and 2) identifying the main factors that led to these wrongful convictions. Findings indicate that almost all publications have focused on China and Japan as representatives of Eastern Asia. Very few studies discussed other Asian areas. Alongside five similarities with Western societies, such as 1) false confessions, 2) torture, 3) misconduct, 4) eyewitness identification errors, and 5) misused forensic science, political factors and criminal justice struggles reflect the unique issues underpinning Asia's wrongful convictions. Ultimately, our study calls for broader future research of a greater range of Asian countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eyewitness identifications are prone to error. Scholars and legal stakeholders are exploring whether and when eyewitness confidence predicts identification accuracy. Scholars agree on a strong but imperfect relationship between initial confidence and accuracy under "pristine" (ideal) conditions. However, pristine conditions are not unfailingly present in criminal cases. Even when pristine conditions are present, high confidence is not always associated with high accuracy because other factors influence the confidence–accuracy relationship. Researchers have not yet reached a consensus about the many variables that may impact the confidence–accuracy relationship. Ultimately, legal practitioners should be cautious in using confidence as an indicator of accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Attending to the behaviors of eyewitnesses at police lineups could help to determine whether an eyewitness identification is accurate or mistaken. Eyewitness identification decision processes were explored using augmented reality holograms. Children (n = 143; Mage = 10.79, SD = 1.12 years) and adults (n = 152; Mage = 22.12, SD = 7.47 years) viewed staged crime videos and made identification decisions from sequential lineups. The lineups were presented in augmented reality. Children were less accurate than adults on the lineup task. For adults, fast response times and high post-identification confidence ratings were both reflective of identification accuracy. Fast response times were also reflective of accuracy for children; however, children's confidence ratings did not reflect the likely accuracy of their identifications. A new additional measure, the witness' proximity to the augmented reality lineup, revealed that children who made mistaken identifications moved closer to the lineup than children who correctly identified the person from the crime video. Adults who moved any distance towards the lineup were less accurate than adults who did not move at all, but beyond that, adults' proximity to the lineup was not reflective of accuracy. The findings give further evidence that behavioral indicators of deliberation and information-seeking by eyewitnesses are signals of low lineup identification reliability. The findings also suggest that when assessing the reliability of children's lineup identifications, behavioral measures are more useful than metacognitive reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Age‐related differences in identification performance between younger (18–35 years) and older adults (62–68 years), alongside the cross‐age effect (CAE), where people recognise own‐age faces better than other‐age faces, were investigated. Self‐reported levels of other‐age contact and attitudes, participants' memory for the unbiased lineup instructions, and the confidence‐accuracy (C‐A) relationship were also examined. Participants (N = 154) viewed two filmed events: one with a young adult target and one with an older adult target. Older adults were less likely than younger adults to identify the perpetrator. Interestingly, the CAE, contact, attitudes, and choosing behaviours did not impact identification performance. Older adults experienced more difficulty remembering the pre‐lineup instructions than younger adults, but only after the first lineup. Confidence was predictive of accuracy for both age groups, but this relationship was differently influenced by the CAE. The findings provide further insights into the factors that may impact younger and older adults' identification performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When eyewitness receive feedback implying they have accurately identified the perpetrator from a lineup, it boosts their confidence and possibly distorts their memory. Most research investigating this "post-identification feedback effect" (PIF effect) suggests the feedback changes eyewitness' retrospective memory of their actual experiences. But it remains unclear to what extent this feedback might change the eyewitness's subsequent behaviour. Across four experiments, we addressed this issue. We investigated whether people who received confirming feedback were more likely to provide recorded or written statements as evidence for an ongoing trial. Across the four experiments, we replicated the basic PIF effect. But we found no consistent evidence that these same people were more willing to offer their experimental data nor to submit a statement about what they saw. We did find preliminary evidence that people who received confirming feedback submitted longer statements. Taken together, these findings have theoretical implications establishing boundary conditions on the influence of feedback. On the practical side, these findings suggest caution in extrapolating the influence of PIF beyond a relatively small set of retrospective reports, beliefs, and inclinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is common for a perpetrator’s appearance to change between committing the crime and later appearing in an identification procedure. The present study investigated how such appearance change (AC) would be evaluated by potential jurors, as well as tested mock jurors’ evaluations of the appearance change instruction (ACI) utilized by police. Recent research indicates that the ACI harms eyewitness identification accuracy and limits the predictive nature of confidence, but would mock jurors’ estimates of suspect guilt reflect this? In Experiment 1, AC reduced suspect guilt estimates, but the ACI eliminated this effect, indicating that potential jurors may not discount an identification if made after ACI. Experiment 2 introduced a hypothetical eyewitness expert who informs participants about the research that both AC and the ACI harm eyewitness performance. We also compared two types of expert instructions based on recent mock jury research: simple versus reason-based. Both types served to reduce suspect guilt estimates associated with AC. Participants still trusted the ACI even with expert instructions, but not as much as when there was no expert. Lastly, we also manipulated eyewitness confidence level, supporting recent research that manipulations have no effect on suspect guilt estimates when confidence is low (i.e. uncertainty trumps). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents unique empirical evidence on the importance of moral support for performance. We take advantage of an unusual change in Argentinean football legislation. In August 2013, as a matter of national security, the Argentinean government forced all teams in the first division to play their games with only home team supporters. Supporters of visiting teams were not allowed to be in stadiums during league games. We estimate the effect of this exogenous variation of supporters on team performance and find that visiting teams are on average about 20% more likely to lose without the presence of their supporters. As a counterfactual experiment, we run the analysis using contemporaneous cup games, where the visiting team supporters were allowed to attend, and find no effect of the ban on those games. Moreover, the ban does not seem to bias the decisions of referees, the lineups, or the market value of the teams, suggesting that the effect on team performance is due to the loss of moral support rather than other factors. Finally, we find that moral support is more relevant when there is equal power between the two teams, suggesting that moral support compensates the power of monetary resources. This paper provides a proof of concept of moral support as an important nonmonetary resource, even in settings with high monetary incentives. This paper was accepted by Yan Chen, behavioral economics and decision analysis. Supplemental Material: The e-companion and data are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2021.02906. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The primary argument for including large numbers of known-to-be innocent fillers in lineups is that guessing-based selections are dispersed among a large number of lineup members, leading to low innocent-suspect identification rates. However, a recent study using the two-high threshold eyewitness identification model has demonstrated advantages of smaller lineups at the level of the processes underlying the observable responses. Participants were more likely to detect the presence of the culprit and less likely to select lineup members based on guessing in smaller than in larger lineups. Nonetheless, at the level of observable responses, the rate of innocent-suspect identifications was higher in smaller compared to larger lineups due to the decreased dispersion of guessing-based selections among the lineup members. To address this issue, we combined smaller lineups with lineup instructions insinuating that the culprit was unlikely to be in the lineup. The goal was to achieve a particularly low rate of guessing-based selections. These lineups were compared to larger lineups with neutral instructions. In two experiments, culprit-presence detection occurred with a higher probability in smaller compared to larger lineups. Furthermore, instructions insinuating that the culprit was unlikely to be in the lineup reduced guessing-based selection compared to neutral instructions. At the level of observable responses, the innocent-suspect identification rate did not differ between smaller lineups with low-culprit-probability instructions and larger lineups with neutral instructions. The rate of culprit identifications was higher in smaller lineups with low-culprit-probability instructions than in larger lineups with neutral instructions.

The primary argument for including large numbers of known-to-be innocent fillers in lineups is that guessing-based selections are dispersed among a large number of lineup members, leading to low innocent-suspect identification rates. However, a recent study using the two-high threshold eyewitness identification model has demonstrated advantages of smaller lineups at the level of the processes underlying the observable responses. Participants were more likely to detect the presence of the culprit and less likely to select lineup members based on guessing in smaller than in larger lineups. Nonetheless, at the level of observable responses, the rate of innocent-suspect identifications was higher in smaller compared to larger lineups due to the decreased dispersion of guessing-based selections among the lineup members. To address this issue, we combined smaller lineups with lineup instructions insinuating that the culprit was unlikely to be in the lineup. The goal was to achieve a particularly low rate of guessing-based selections. These lineups were compared to larger lineups with neutral instructions. In two experiments, culprit-presence detection occurred with a higher probability in smaller compared to larger lineups. Furthermore, instructions insinuating that the culprit was unlikely to be in the lineup reduced guessing-based selection compared to neutral instructions. At the level of observable responses, the innocent-suspect identification rate did not differ between smaller lineups with low-culprit-probability instructions and larger lineups with neutral instructions. The rate of culprit identifications was higher in smaller lineups with low-culprit-probability instructions than in larger lineups with neutral instructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few earlier studies have investigated the effects of highly stressful, realistic, violent, and threatening scenarios on eyewitness identification accuracy in an ecologically valid setting. The majority of studies have relied on laboratory‐based simulated (videos/images) experiments. The present study investigated line‐up accuracy approximately 1 week after a hostage simulation event. We administered biased line‐up instructions to 50% of participants to investigate how this impacted choosing behaviour and accuracy. Based on 1030 line‐up decisions (N = 122), we found that average accuracy was 38% in target present (TP) and 54% in target absent (TA) line‐ups and that biased line‐up instructions decreased overall accuracy (vs. unbiased). The hit rate for TP line‐ups with biased instructions was 0.43 (unbiased instructions: 0.33), while the false alarm rate for TA line‐ups with biased instructions was 0.60 (unbiased instructions: 0.32). We found that high confidence was associated with correct identifications and that shorter response times were indicative of correct rejections. Our findings demonstrate, in a more realistic scenario than the majority of eyewitness identification studies, the effect that biased line‐up instructions lead to increased choosing and decreased accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet gaming disorder (IGD) has become a worldwide public health issue and the risk factors and specific mechanisms of its development have been a recent research focus. To explore the association between avatar identification and IGD among middle school students, the present study tested the mediating roles of flow and self-concept clarity within the relationship. Survey research was conducted among 730 Chinese middle school students (399 male and 331 female), aged between 12 and 19 years (Mage = 15.315; SD = 1.801), who had online gaming (including avatar) experience. The results indicated that avatar identification, flow, self-concept clarity, and IGD were significantly interrelated. Avatar identification could indirectly affect IGD through flow, self-concept clarity, and the serial mediation of flow-self-concept clarity. These findings provide implications for understanding the psychological processes by which avatar identification exerts influences on IGD and suggest possible approaches for IGD prevention and intervention among middle school students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Criminal law evolution accentuates the contrast between traditional eyewitness testimonies and precise modern forensics. While testimonies offer depth, scientific methodologies provide unparalleled accuracy in investigations. This study examines the challenges and merits of both in light of technological advancements. The objective is to understand the evolving paradigm of scientific evidence in criminal justice, emphasizing its integration and balance with traditional evidentiary methods for upholding judicial integrity and revealing material truth. The result of this study is historical evolution in the theory of scientific evidence which has transitioned from relying on testimonies to verifiable scientific data, including advancements in DNA and cyber technology. This scientific approach, characterized by its objectivity, replicability, and measurability, offers a robust foundation for discerning truth and justice, surpassing the limitations of mere factual accounts. Modern criminal law’s integration of this evidence signifies a deep-rooted commitment to justice, ensuring verdicts are swift, fair, and grounded in undeniable truth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between confidence and accuracy and the reliability of eyewitness identifications has attracted a lot of attention. In contrast, relatively little is known about the relationship between eyewitness confidence and the accuracy of recall memory in interview contexts. Here, we manipulated questioning approaches to investigate the impact of Free‐Recall and Cued‐Recall questions, whereby the latter were witness‐compatible (questions concerning details reported in the preceding Free‐Recall) or witness‐incompatible questions. We also manipulated the order these questions were asked. A sample of 124 mock witness participants watched a crime‐video and subsequently recalled the event to understand the impact of question type and order on confidence‐accuracy calibration. Our results show that a Free‐Recall invitation and compatible (compared to incompatible) questions promoted more stable confidence. Compatible questions yielded fewer errors, more accurate details, and promoted more reliable confidence‐accuracy calibration and discrimination, especially when they preceded the incompatible questions. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Despite converging evidence that people more closely associate the construct of criminality with Black people who exhibit a more African facial phenotype than Black people who express a more European phenotype, eyewitness researchers have largely ignored phenotypic bias as a potential contributor to the racial disparities in the criminal legal system. If this form of phenotypic bias extends to eyewitness identification tasks, eyewitnesses may be more likely to identify Black suspects with an African rather than European phenotype, regardless of their guilt status. Further, in cases where the witness's description of the perpetrator does not contain phenotypic information, phenotypic mismatch between the suspect and the other lineup members may bias identification decisions toward or against the suspect. If witnesses can use elements of the lineup construction to guide their identification decisions rather than relying on their recognition memory, then the lineup should be deemed unfair due to suspect bias. The current study also investigated lineup presentation method as a procedural safeguard, predicting that that when lineups were presented simultaneously, there would be a significant two-way interaction of phenotypic bias and lineup composition, with a larger simple main effect of phenotypic bias when lineups were suspect-biased (i.e., the fillers were a phenotypic mismatch to the suspect) than when all lineup members shared the same phenotype. We expected that this interaction would be significantly smaller or non-significant for sequential lineups. Methods: Participants watched a mock crime video that contained a Black culprit with either a more African phenotype or a less African phenotype before attempting identifications from a photo array that contained a suspect whose phenotype always matched the culprit viewed in the video, but varied in culprit-presence, phenotypic match of the suspect and fillers, and presentation method. Results: Participants did not identify Black suspects with Afrocentric features more often than Black suspects with Eurocentric features. However, witnesses made more identifications of suspects when the fillers did not match the suspect's phenotype compared to when all lineup members possessed similar phenotypic features. Discussion: In sum, phenotypic bias did not influence our participantwitnesses' identification decisions, nor interact with lineup composition and lineup presentation type to affect identifications of suspects, suggesting that phenotypic bias may be less influential in match-to-memory tasks than other types of legal decision-making (e.g., determining guilt and sentencing). However, the suggestiveness created by failing to match fillers' phenotypes to the suspect's phenotype can be avoided with proper attention to fair lineup construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child eyewitnesses show a high false identification rate on target-absent (TA) lineups despite good performance on target-present (TP) lineups. One explanation is that children feel a social pressure to choose when presented with a TA lineup. We investigated whether experimenter familiarity would reduce social pressure and improve accuracy on TA lineups. Children (5–7 years, N = 120) watched a short video of a staged theft; 1–2 days later they completed a TP or TA lineup with a familiar or unfamiliar experimenter. Experimenter familiarity had an impact on lineup response in TA lineups only, with more correct 'not there' and fewer 'not sure' responses when the children were familiar with the experimenter. The results provide further evidence to support the social aspect of eyewitness identification decisions in children and provide a possible strategy to improve identification accuracy for those working with children in the criminal justice system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial intelligence is already all around us, and its usage will only increase. Knowing its capabilities is critical. A facial recognition system (FRS) is a tool for law enforcement during suspect searches and when presenting photos to eyewitnesses for identification. However, there are no comparisons between eyewitness and FRS accuracy using video, so it is unknown whether FRS face matches are more accurate than eyewitness memory when identifying a perpetrator. Ours is the first application of artificial intelligence to an eyewitness experience, using a comparative psychology approach. As a first step to test system accuracy relative to eyewitness accuracy, participants and an open-source FRS (FaceNet) attempted perpetrator identification/match from lineup photos (target-present, target-absent) after exposure to real crime videos with varied clarity and perpetrator race. FRS used video probe images of each perpetrator to achieve similarity ratings for each corresponding lineup member. Using receiver operating characteristic analysis to measure discriminability, FRS performance was superior to eyewitness performance, regardless of video clarity or perpetrator race. Video clarity impacted participant performance, with the unclear videos yielding lower performance than the clear videos. Using confidence-accuracy characteristic analysis to measure reliability (i.e., the likelihood the identified suspect is the actual perpetrator), when the FRS identified faces with the highest similarity values, they were accurate. The results suggest FaceNet, or similarly performing systems, may supplement eyewitness memory for suspect searches and subsequent lineup construction and knowing the system's strengths and weaknesses is critical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High confidence has been associated with high accuracy under certain conditions. Yet, how researchers operationalize ‘high confidence’ varies across publications and depends on who is asked. In this study, we collected numeric interpretations to determine thresholds for high confidence. Layperson participants provided a minimum, best, and maximum estimate for ‘high confidence’ in an eyewitness lineup decision on a scale of 0-100. The distribution of best estimates peaked at 90.90%. The peak value for the minimum estimate was 83.80%. Critically, the distributions of responses were highly variable: 68.27% of participants (one standard deviation around the mean) provided best estimates between 79% and 97% and minimum estimates between 60% and 93%. This variability in laypeople’s perceptions implies there is likely to be considerable variability in how jurors and practitioners interpret confidence. Research and practice would benefit from a standardized definition of what constitutes ‘high confidence.’ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Typically, an eyewitness' verbal confidence is used to judge the reliability of their lineup identification. Across three experiments (N = 3976), we examined eyewitnesses' own words confidence in their lineup decision. For identification decisions (n = 1099), we identified 781 quantitatively unique responses representing 132 qualitatively unique statements that could be categorized into low, medium, and high confidence. For rejectors (n = 781), we identified 599 quantitatively unique responses representing 143 qualitatively unique responses that could be categorized into low, medium, and high confidence. Most participants provided a verbal phrase (e.g., pretty sure) but a significant proportion—34.19% of identifiers and 29.05% of rejectors—provided numbers (e.g., 80%). The present data highlight the variability in how confidence is expressed. The criminal justice system would benefit from guidance for interpreting verbal confidence. We provide a picture of eyewitnesses' verbal confidence as a first step. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

pyWitness is a python toolkit for recognition memory experiments, with a focus on eyewitness identification (ID) data analysis and model fitting. The current practice is for researchers to use different statistical packages to analyze a single dataset. pyWitness streamlines the process. In addition to conducting key data analyses (e.g., receiver operating characteristic analysis, confidence accuracy characteristic analysis), statistical comparisons, signal-detection-based model fits, simulated data generation, and power analyses are also possible. We describe the package implementation and provide detailed instructions and tutorials with datasets so that users can follow. There is also an online manual that is regularly updated. We developed pyWitness to be user-friendly, reduce human interaction with pre-processing and processing of data and model fits, and produce publication-ready plots. All pyWitness features align with open science practices, such that the algorithms, fits, and methods are reproducible and documented. While pyWitness is a python toolkit, it can also be used from R for users more accustomed to this environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People remember what they deem important. In line with research suggesting that lower-class (vs. higher class) individuals spontaneously appraise other people as more relevant, we show that social class is associated with the habitual use of face memory. We find that lower-class (vs. higher class) participants exhibit better incidental memory for faces (i.e., spontaneous memory for faces they had not been instructed to memorize; Studies 1 and 2). No social-class differences emerge for faces participants are instructed to learn (Study 2), suggesting that this pattern reflects class-based relevance appraisals rather than memory ability. Study 3 extends our findings to eyewitness identification. Lower-class (vs. higher-class) participants' eyewitness accuracy is less impacted by the explicit relevance of a target (clearly relevant thief vs. incidental bystander). Integrative data analysis shows a robust negative association between social class and spontaneous face memory. Preregistration (Studies 1 and 3) and cross-cultural replication (Study 2) further strengthen the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many criminals have distinctive facial features such as tattoos, yet the potential impact on eyewitness memory has received little research attention. Does such a feature harm memory for the face at encoding, and can police do anything about this when constructing the lineup? Does it matter whether the feature is on the interior (e.g., tattoo on face) or exterior (e.g., tattoo on neck)? These are the kinds of questions that we investigated by randomly assigning a large nationwide sample of online participants to conditions within an experimental design in which we manipulated target exposure time, presence (and location) of a distinctive feature, and whether it is replicated or removed from lineup members. Results indicate that a distinctive feature harms memory for the face regardless of location, but replicating the feature in the lineup may attenuate this effect. Fortunately, high confidence was indicative of high accuracy regardless of our manipulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some courts have ruled that identification evidence provided by a police officer is more likely to be accurate than comparable evidence provided by a civilian. Identifications made by a police officer are therefore given greater weight and, for these identifications, otherwise‐required procedures and safeguards might be deemed superfluous. We describe the available evidence that examines these notions and argue that police officers actually have no advantage at all over civilians when making identifications. In a recent publication, however, Tupper et al. (2023, Applied Cognitive Psychology, 37, 845–860) offer data that they suggest challenge this claim. We argue that their data, when appropriately analyzed, once again show no police advantage. Their findings therefore converge with the results of 12 prior studies, comparing the identification accuracy for police officers and civilians. We conclude that the best summary of the available data is that the suggestion of a police officer identification advantage is a myth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2017, a series of human remains corresponding to the executed leaders of the "January Uprising" of 1863–1864 were uncovered at the Upper Castle of Vilnius (Lithuania). During the archeological excavations, 14 inhumation pits with the human remains of 21 individuals were found at the site. The subsequent identification process was carried out, including the analysis and cross-comparison of post-mortem data obtained in situ and in the lab with ante-mortem data obtained from historical archives. In parallel, three anthropologists with diverse backgrounds in craniofacial identification and two students without previous experience attempted to identify 11 of these 21 individuals using the craniofacial superimposition technique. To do this, the five participants had access to 18 3D scanned skulls and 14 photographs of 11 different candidates. The participants faced a cross-comparison problem involving 252 skull-face overlay scenarios. The methodology follows the main agreements of the European project MEPROCS and uses the software Skeleton-ID™. Based on MEPROCS standard, a final decision was provided within a scale, assigning a value in terms of strong, moderate, or limited support to the claim that the skull and the facial image belonged (or not) to the same person for each case. The problem of binary classification, positive/negative, with an identification rate for each participant was revealed. The results obtained in this study make the authors think that both the quality of the materials used and the previous experience of the analyst play a fundamental role when reaching conclusions using the CFS technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When tasked with recalling a heard conversation, most individuals are unable to remember specific details. In this study, we tested the effect of Verbatim Recall Instruction (VRI) at recall. Drawing on fuzzy-trace theory, we hypothesised that the use of VRI would lead earwitnesses to use their verbatim mnesic trace to produce a more detailed recall. We compared the quantity and the quality of 42 recalls from participants who had received the VRI or the Free Recall Instruction (FRI). We analysed the level of detail of participants' recall along a fuzzy to verbatim continuum. Results showed that participants having received a VRI recalled information that was more correct and closer to the original phrasing. However, differences in procedure make the VRI difficult to compare with other studies. Methodological differences are accordingly discussed. Findings suggest that VRI encourages the recollection of verbatim traces, in turn benefiting the recall of detailed elements of a conversation. These findings support fuzzy-trace theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the three previously studied categories of variables that are related to eyewitness identification accuracy: estimator (characteristics of the witnessing conditions), system (characteristics of the identification procedure that are under the control of the criminal legal system), and reflector (variables that reflect the likely accuracy of a witness). Although eyewitness scholars frequently turn to these variables and models of memory to explain why eyewitnesses make mistakes, none of these variables provides a reasonable explanation for the large racial disparities in wrongful convictions based on mistaken identifications, yet problematic policing practices might. The policies and practices guiding police efforts to develop suspects as well as the decisions of officers to place a suspect at risk of misidentification determine the base‐rate of innocent suspects that appear in identification procedures. Current police practices—from developing suspects based on hunches, through facial recognition technology, or by pressuring reluctant witnesses to make identifications—increase the likelihood that innocent suspects will be placed in lineups. An increase in lineups with innocent suspects increases the ratio of mistaken to correct identifications without changes in witness performance. Requirements for evidence‐based suspicion, video recording identification procedures, and prohibiting coercive interviewing techniques with reluctant witnesses are recommended for reducing the effect of unreliable suspect development methods on eyewitness evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionDespite converging evidence that people more closely associate the construct of criminality with Black people who exhibit a more African facial phenotype than Black people who express a more European phenotype, eyewitness researchers have largely ignored phenotypic bias as a potential contributor to the racial disparities in the criminal legal system. If this form of phenotypic bias extends to eyewitness identification tasks, eyewitnesses may be more likely to identify Black suspects with an African rather than European phenotype, regardless of their guilt status. Further, in cases where the witness’s description of the perpetrator does not contain phenotypic information, phenotypic mismatch between the suspect and the other lineup members may bias identification decisions toward or against the suspect. If witnesses can use elements of the lineup construction to guide their identification decisions rather than relying on their recognition memory, then the lineup should be deemed unfair due to suspect bias. The current study also investigated lineup presentation method as a procedural safeguard, predicting that that when lineups were presented simultaneously, there would be a significant two-way interaction of phenotypic bias and lineup composition, with a larger simple main effect of phenotypic bias when lineups were suspect-biased (i.e., the fillers were a phenotypic mismatch to the suspect) than when all lineup members shared the same phenotype. We expected that this interaction would be significantly smaller or non-significant for sequential lineups.MethodsParticipants watched a mock crime video that contained a Black culprit with either a more African phenotype or a less African phenotype before attempting identifications from a photo array that contained a suspect whose phenotype always matched the culprit viewed in the video, but varied in culprit-presence, phenotypic match of the suspect and fillers, and presentation method.ResultsParticipants did not identify Black suspects with Afrocentric features more often than Black suspects with Eurocentric features. However, witnesses made more identifications of suspects when the fillers did not match the suspect’s phenotype compared to when all lineup members possessed similar phenotypic features.DiscussionIn sum, phenotypic bias did not influence our participant-witnesses’ identification decisions, nor interact with lineup composition and lineup presentation type to affect identifications of suspects, suggesting that phenotypic bias may be less influential in match-to-memory tasks than other types of legal decision-making (e.g., determining guilt and sentencing). However, the suggestiveness created by failing to match fillers’ phenotypes to the suspect’s phenotype can be avoided with proper attention to fair lineup construction.

ObjectiveRecent work has established that high-confidence identifications (IDs) from a police lineup can provide compelling evidence of guilt. By contrast, when a witness rejects the lineup, it may offer only limited evidence of innocence. Moreover, confidence in a lineup rejection often provides little additional information beyond the rejection itself. Thus, although lineups are useful for incriminating the guilty, they are less useful for clearing the innocent of suspicion. Here, we test predictions from a signal-detection-based model of eyewitness ID to create a lineup that is capable of increasing information about innocence.HypothesesOur model-based simulations suggest that high-confidence rejections should exonerate many more innocent suspects and do so with higher accuracy if, after a witness rejects a lineup but before they report their confidence, they are shown the suspect and asked, "How sure are you that this person is not the perpetrator?"MethodParticipants (N = 3,346) recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk watched a 30-s mock-crime video of a perpetrator. Afterward, they were randomly assigned to lineup procedures using a 2 (standard control vs. reveal condition) × 2 (target present vs. target absent) design. A standard simultaneous lineup served as the control condition. The reveal condition was identical to the control condition except in cases of lineup rejection: When a lineup rejection occurred, the suspect appeared on the screen, and participants provided a confidence rating indicating their belief that the suspect was not the perpetrator.ResultsThe reveal procedure increased both the accuracy and frequency of high-confidence rejections relative to the standard simultaneous lineup.ConclusionsCollecting a confidence rating about the suspect after a lineup is rejected may make it possible to quickly clear innocent suspects of suspicion and reduce the amount of contact that innocent people have with the legal system. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Eyewitness memory researchers have recently devoted considerable attention to eyewitness confidence. While there is strong consensus that courtroom confidence is problematic, we now recognise that an eyewitness's initial confidence in their first identification - in certain contexts - can be of value. A few psychological scientists, however, have confidently, but erroneously claimed that in real-world cases, eyewitness initial confidence is the most important indicator of eyewitness accuracy, trumping all other factors that might exist in a case. This claim accompanies an exaggeration of the role of eyewitnesses' "initial confidence" in the DNA exoneration cases. Still worse, overstated claims about the confidence-accuracy relationship, and eyewitness memory, have reached our top scientific journals, news articles, and criminal cases. To set the record straight, we review what we actually know and do not know about the "initial confidence" of eyewitnesses in the DNA exoneration cases. Further reasons for skepticism about the value of the confidence-accuracy relationship in real-world cases come from new analyses of a separate database, the National Registry of Exonerations. Finally, we review new research that reveals numerous conditions wherein eyewitnesses with high initial confidence end up being wrong.

Empirical investigations into eyewitness identification accuracy typically necessitate the creation of novel stimulus materials, which can be a challenging and time-consuming task. To facilitate this process and promote further research in this domain, we introduce the new Jena Eyewitness Research Stimuli (JERS). They comprise six video sequences depicting a mock theft committed by two different perpetrators, available in both two-dimensional (2D) and 360° format, combined with the corresponding lineup images presented in 2D or three-dimensional (3D) format. Images of one suspect and eight fillers are available for each lineup. We evaluated lineup fairness by using mock eyewitness paradigm and noted a Tredoux's E of 4.687 for Perpetrator 1 and 5.406 for Perpetrator 2. Moreover, no bias towards the perpetrators was observed in the lineups. We incorporated 360° videos and 3D lineup images to encourage the adoption of innovative data formats in experimental investigations of eyewitness accuracy. In particular, compatibility with Virtual Reality (VR) makes JERS a promising tool for advancing eyewitness research by enabling researchers to construct controlled environments that offer observers an immersive experience. JERS is freely accessible for the use of academic purposes via the Open Science Framework (OSF). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive scientists have firmly established the risk of eyewitness misidentifications, and in response, courts have adopted legal safeguards to forestall this possibility; however, there are few safeguards against misidentifications by non-eyewitnesses. We define non-eyewitnesses as people who did not actually observe an event but nonetheless testify about who they think is depicted in a video of the event on the basis of their prior familiarity with the person they believe is depicted. In this review, we discuss the accuracy with which people typically recognize people from videos; in fact, these non-eyewitness identifications are far from perfect. We then explore seven factors that affect the accuracy of non-eyewitness identifications and organize these factors around three categories of bias—case-specific bias, person-specific bias, and general cognitive bias—that are likely to reduce the probability of a correct identification. We conclude with a proposed two-prong framework for determining the admissibility of non-eyewitness identifications in court and call for the adoption of legal safeguards against non-eyewitness misidentifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sleep is critical for memory, but research indicates that eyewitness identification may be an exception. We conducted three experiments to assess the effect of self-reported sleep duration and quality the night before a mock-crime video, and current sleepiness, on eyewitness recall and identification. We found that duration and quality strongly predicted the recall of central details, but only weakly predicted the recall of peripheral details. Those reporting long duration or high quality had higher discriminability than those reporting short duration or low quality, for both lineups and showups in single-session experiments. Based on a two-part experiment, we found that poor sleep the night before a crime may be more impactful than sleep the night before an ID procedure. We conclude that self-reported sleep could be an important individual difference variable for eyewitness memory. General Audience Summary: It is well-known that sleep is important for memory, but it is unclear how important it is for eyewitness memory. Could police ask eyewitnesses how well they slept the night before a crime, with the answers predicting their ability to accurately recall crime details and to make a correct identification decision later from a showup or lineup? We addressed this question across three experiments with large demographically diverse online samples. Participants viewed a mock-crime video then were asked about the duration and quality of sleep the night before and also how sleepy they were. Later, they were asked to recall details about the video and also to make an identification decision from a lineup (Experiments 1 and 3) or showup (Experiment 2). When everything took place in a single session (Experiments 1 and 2), those reporting better sleep the night before were better able to recall important crime details, such as what the perpetrator was wearing and what he was doing with his hands. Moreover, well-rested participants were more likely to correctly identify the perpetrator from a lineup or showup and were especially more likely to reject a lineup or showup containing an innocent suspect instead of the perpetrator. Experiment 3 presented the recall questions and lineup 2 days after the mock-crime video, and though there was still an effect of sleep the night before the lineup on recall, there was no longer any effect on identification accuracy. This informs us that sleep the night before a crime may be especially important, more so than sleep the night before police present an identification procedure like a lineup. We conclude that it may be beneficial for police to ask eyewitnesses simple sleep questions after a crime, as their answers could be predictive of the quality of eyewitness evidence they provide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we apply the two-high threshold eyewitness identification model to identify the effects of lineup size on the detection-based and non-detection-based processes underlying eyewitness decisions. In Experiment 1, lineup size was manipulated by showing participants simultaneous or sequential lineups that contained either three or six persons. In Experiment 2, the lineups contained either two or five persons. In both experiments, the culprit was better detected in smaller than in larger lineups. Furthermore, participants made fewer guessing-based selections in smaller than in larger lineups. However, guessing-based selection in larger lineups was not increased to a level sufficient to offset the effect of increased protection of suspects in larger lineups due to the fact that the guessing-based selections that occur are distributed across more persons. The results show that increasing the lineup size causes several changes in the detection-based and non-detection-based processes underlying eyewitness decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When selecting fillers to include in a police lineup, one must consider the level of similarity between the suspect and potential fillers. In order to reduce misidentifications, an innocent suspect should not stand out. Therefore, it is important that the fillers share some degree of similarity. Importantly, increasing suspect–filler similarity too much will render the task too difficult reducing correct identifications of a guilty suspect. Determining how much similarity yields optimal identification performance is the focus of the proposed study. Extant research on lineup construction has provided somewhat mixed results. In part, this is likely due to the subjective nature of similarity, which forces researchers to define similarity in relative terms. In the current study, we manipulate suspect–filler similarity via a multidimensional scaling model constructed using objective facial measurements. In doing so, we test the "propitious heterogeneity" and the diagnostic-feature-detection hypotheses which predict an advantage of lineups with low-similarity fillers in terms of discriminability. We found that filler similarity did not affect discriminability. We discuss limitations and future directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fingerprints are one of the most important types of evidence in crime investigation due to their permanency, uniqueness, and ease of enhancing. Demonstrators usually prefer hiding their identities by covering their faces in illegal events such as throwing stones at security forces or at businesses and residences so as to damage property. Once the fingerprints are detected on stones, it could be possible to reach the perpetrators. However, there is insufficient research about recovering fingerprints on stones and their subsequent reliability. In this study, fingerprints left on 12 different kinds of stone surface were held for 1, 3, and 5 days respectively, after which it was sought to determine whether or not suitable fingerprints could be recovered for comparison. In this study, As a result of various chemical applications in the laboratory on 12 different types of stones, it was revealed that fingerprints with sufficient characteristics could be obtained from various stone types. Fingerprints of good quality were made visible with cyanoacrylate fuming method, particularly on stones with smooth surfaces and minimal porosity such as the outer surfaces of red brick, marble, mosaic, ceramic, tile and granite. After more than a hundred and thirty years, fingerprints still remain to be considered as one of the most important sources of evidence. It is evaluated that fingerprints developed from stones which were thrown during an assault could be instrumental in identification of a perpetrator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present field experiment investigated how alibi witnesses react when confronted with camera footage or identification testimony that incriminates an innocent suspect. Under the pretext of a problem-solving study, pairs of participants (N = 109) and confederates worked on an individual task with a dividing wall obstructing their view of each other. When the mobile phone of the experimenter was missing from an adjacent room at the end of the session, all participants confirmed that the confederate had not left the room. After several days, participants returned to the lab for a second session. They were asked to confirm their corroboration, orally and in writing, after learning that the confederate either had been identified from a photograph or was present on camera footage. A control group received no evidence. In this second session, written (but not oral) alibi corroboration was weaker in the incriminating evidence conditions (47%) than the no-evidence condition (81%), as hypothesized. Unexpectedly, corroboration was equally strong in the camera and identification evidence conditions. As expected, alibi corroboration was stronger in session 1 than in session 2 for both camera (89% and 31–46%) and identification evidence conditions (86% and 31–49%). The current findings provide first evidence that camera footage and eyewitness identification testimony can bear on the availability of exculpatory alibi evidence in court and emphasize the need to document incidents of evidence contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate witness identification is a cornerstone of police inquiries and national security investigations. However, witnesses can make errors. We experimentally tested whether an interactive lineup, a recently introduced procedure that enables witnesses to dynamically view and explore faces from different angles, improves the rate at which witnesses identify guilty over innocent suspects compared to procedures traditionally used by law enforcement. Participants encoded 12 target faces, either from the front or in profile view, and then attempted to identify the targets from 12 lineups, half of which were target present and the other half target absent. Participants were randomly assigned to a lineup condition: simultaneous interactive, simultaneous photo, or sequential video. In the front-encoding and profile-encoding conditions, Receiver Operating Characteristics analysis indicated that discriminability was higher in interactive compared to both photo and video lineups, demonstrating the benefit of actively exploring the lineup members’ faces. Signal-detection modeling suggested interactive lineups increase discriminability because they afford the witness the opportunity to view more diagnostic features such that the nondiagnostic features play a proportionally lesser role. These findings suggest that eyewitness errors can be reduced using interactive lineups because they create retrieval conditions that enable witnesses to actively explore faces and more effectively sample features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Tacoma, Washington, on a late June afternoon in 2013, a police officer brutally shot an unarmed, mentally-ill, middle-aged homeless man four times in the back with a Glock 45. He was not a suspect in any criminal wrongdoing, and horrified eyewitnesses confirmed that he was not posing a threat to anyone, including the officer, at the time of the shooting. The victim, Cesar Beltran-Serrano, survived, and subsequently sued the city for his injuries. The case eventually landed at the Washington Supreme Court, where the court was asked to resolve two separate legal issues: does the public duty doctrine immunize localities from liability when an officer has affirmatively acted (rather than just failed to act), and can a police officer who intentionally shoots a person be liable in both negligence and intentional tort. The court found in favor of the plaintiff on both issues. In so doing, the court created a viable and accessible path towards greater police accountability. On this basis alone, the decision deserves a spot in this symposium issue on the Great Tort Cases of the 21st Century. Yet the case does still more: its holdings are important not just for plaintiffs bringing claims against police, but for parties in cases far beyond the police/city context. Most notably, the issue of whether negligence can co-exist with intentional assault and battery claims is of particular importance to sexual assault tort litigation and potentially opens pathways for other contexts as well. The dual holdings in Beltran-Serrano thus hold much promise for those seeking social justice through tort law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The empirical literature on perception and memory consistently demonstrates the pitfalls of eyewitness identifications. Exoneration data lend external validity to these studies. With the goal of informing law enforcement officers, prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys, judges, and judicial law clerks about what they can do to reduce wrongful convictions based on misidentifications, this Article presents a synthesis of the scientific knowledge relevant to how perception and memory affect the (un)reliability of eyewitness identifications. The Article situates that body of knowledge within the context of leading case law. The Article then summarizes the most current recommendations for how law enforcement personnel should--and should not--conduct eyewitness identification procedures. Finally, the Article concludes by making law and policy recommendations for handling eyewitness identification evidence in ways that can reduce wrongful convictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]