Eyewitness testimony: false alarms on biased instructions?

Article Abstract:

In two experiments we investigated the effects of biased instructions on the accuracy of eyewitness identification in a field setting in which some of the subjects were unaware of their participation in an experiment. In Experiment 1, 76 students observed a theft and were later asked to identify the perpetrator from a target-absent lineup, receiving either unbiased or biased instructions. One half of the subjects were debriefed prior to the identification procedure. Instructional bias was found to increase the rate of don't-know responses for undebriefed subjects, whereas debriefed subjects were unaffected by type of instructions. In Experiment 2, we investigated whether cultural or methodological factors could account for the results. Using identical instructions, as in Malpass and Devine (1981), 63 students who had or had not been debriefed received either biased on unbiased instructions. The American findings were replicated only for debriefed subjects, indicating an increase in false alarms as a function of biased instructions. The findings demonstrate that witnesses are less susceptible to biased instructions than has been suggested by previous research. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

---

How critical is the accuracy of an eyewitness's memory? Another look at the issue of lineup diagnosticity

Article Abstract:

It is argued that the effect of the reliability of lineup identification on the value of lineups for diagnosing guilt of a suspect may often be limited. Focusing on reliability may have the psychological effect of camouflaging the full evidential value of lineups, which largely depends on ecological likelihoods. A way to conceptualize that value by using Bayesian terminology is proposed. It is suggested that forensic psychologists take ecological parameters into account in evaluating the diagnosticity of any particular lineup if that is possible and, at any rate, consider the problem of reliability in the appropriate context. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Identification and classification, Memory, Criminals

---

Juror underutilization of eyewitness nonidentifications: theoretical and practical implications

Article Abstract:

A study of the impact on jurors of several circumstances with eyewitness testimony and fingerprint evidence found that negative, guilt-implying information had greater impact than positive information. Identification by witnesses had more impact than nonidentification; condemning fingerprint evidence had greater impact than positive fingerprint evidence. The results verify the traditional sense that negative information carries greater weight than positive data.

Case studies, Laws, regulations and rules, Human behavior, Evidence, Criminal, Criminal evidence, Jury, Juries

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Understanding workplace empowerment as inclusion: a historical investigation of the discourse of difference in the United States
• Abstracts: Professional behavior during conditions of extreme community turmoil: the case of the removal of settlements from Sinai
• Abstracts: Improving the reliability of eyewitness identification: lineup construction and presentation. Improving the reliability of eyewitness identification: putting context into context
• Abstracts: Consumer responses to advertising: the effects of ad content, emotions, and attitude toward the ad on viewing time
• Abstracts: Waiting time and decision making: is time like money? Will products look more attractive when presented separately or together?

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.