LE3 .A278 2006

2006

Potter, Susan

Acadia University

Master of Science

Masters

Clinical Psychology

Psychology

Three studies examined factors influencing eyewitness identification accuracy and confidence. Participants viewed a non-violent mock crime video, completed two questionnaires, and attempted to identify the perpetrator from one of four sequential mugshot line-ups as follows: 1) perpetrator with five other distractor faces (P), 2) bystander and five distractors (B), 3) perpetrator, bystander, and four distractors (PB), or 4) neither the perpetrator nor the bystander but rather six distractors (NPB). Participants’ number of correct decisions, false identifications, bystander identifications, nonidentifications, and confidence levels were measured. Study 1 examined the affect of a facial hair transformation (adding a goatee to the perpetrator’s mugshot) on identification accuracy and confidence using two additional line-ups as follows: 1) perpetrator with goatee and five distractors (Pg), and 2) perpetrator with goatee, bystander, and four distractors (PgBv). A total of 216 participants were tested. The addition of facial hair did not significantly affect participants’ accuracy or confidence. Study 2 examined the affect of presenting frontal vs. ¾ view mugshots in a line-up, on eyewitness identification accuracy and confidence. A total of 200 participants were tested. Neither accuracy nor confidence was higher for ¾ views compared to frontal views, indicating that ¾ views are not better than frontal views. Study 3 examined the affect of informing participants about factors that can influence eyewitness identification accuracy and confidence on their subsequent accuracy and confidence during an identification task. A total of 160 participants were tested. Information did not significantly influence their ability to avoid making false identifications or their confidence in their decisions. Real world implications of these findings are discussed.

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