scholarly journals Eyewitness identification performance is not affected by time-of-day optimality

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergii Yaremenko ◽  
Melanie Sauerland ◽  
Lorraine Hope

AbstractThe circadian rhythm regulates arousal levels throughout the day and determines optimal periods for engaging in mental activities. Individuals differ in the time of day at which they reach their peak: Morning-type individuals are at their best in the morning and evening types perform better in the evening. Performance in recall and recognition of non-facial stimuli is generally superior at an individual’s circadian peak. In two studies (Ns = 103 and 324), we tested the effect of time-of-testing optimality on eyewitness identification performance. Morning- and evening-type participants viewed stimulus films depicting staged crimes and made identification decisions from target-present and target-absent lineups either at their optimal or non-optimal time-of-day. We expected that participants would make more accurate identification decisions and that the confidence-accuracy and decision time-accuracy relationships would be stronger at optimal compared to non-optimal time of day. In Experiment 1, identification accuracy was unexpectedly superior at non-optimal compared to optimal time of day in target-present lineups. In Experiment 2, identification accuracy did not differ between the optimal and non-optimal time of day. Contrary to our expectations, confidence-accuracy relationship was generally stronger at non-optimal compared to optimal time of day. In line with our predictions, non-optimal testing eliminated decision-time-accuracy relationship in Experiment 1.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario J. Baldassari ◽  
Kara N. Moore ◽  
Ira Hyman ◽  
LORRAINE HOPE ◽  
Eric Mah ◽  
...  

Research on eyewitness identification often involves exposing participants to a simulated crime and later testing memory using a lineup. We conducted a systematic review showing that pre-event instructions, instructions given before event exposure, are rarely reported and those that are reported vary in the extent to which they warn participants about the nature of event or tasks. At odds with the experience of actual witnesses, some studies use pre-event instructions explicitly warning participants of the upcoming crime and lineup task. Both the basic and applied literature provide reason to believe that pre-event instructions may impact eyewitness identification performance. In Experiment 1, we will test the effect of pre-event instructions on lineup identification decisions and confidence. Participants will receive non-specific pre-event instructions (i.e., “watch this video”) or eyewitness pre-event instructions (i.e., “watch this crime video, you’ll complete a line-up later”) and complete a culprit absent or present lineup. In Experiment 2, we will manipulate exposure duration and pre-event instructions to determine if pre-event instructions differentially impact high or low quality eyewitness events. If pre-event instructions impact eyewitness identification accuracy, then the findings of existing studies need to be considered in the context of their pre-event instructions and future work will be needed to determine how instructions interact with existing systems and estimator variables.


Author(s):  
Nicola Guerin ◽  
Nathan Weber ◽  
Ruth Horry

Little theoretically-informed research investigates how non-standard eyewitness identification tasks or metacognitive instructions might improve identification accuracy. We used a continuous dual-process model of recognition to explain familiarity-based identification errors and design modified lineup tasks and metacognitive instructions that increased eyewitness recollection and discriminability. In four studies we examined identification performance across lineups (standard simultaneous, elimination, delayed-choice) and instructions (task-related, phenomenological, standard). Participants viewed photos of targets and made identification decisions about a lineup for each target. Instructions about memory phenomenology improved discriminability in delayed-choice lineups, while task-related instructions were ineffective. Metacognitive instructions about how to better evaluate memory quality in modified lineup tasks could improve recollection for greater identification accuracy even when memory is poor. While immediate post-decision confidence is a good predictor of identification accuracy, lineup modifications that improve eyewitness memory use would provide better evidence of suspect guilt or innocence. We discuss implications for lineup theory and design.


Author(s):  
Άννα Σαγανά ◽  
Melanie Sauerland

Eyewitness identification stands as one of the core aspects of the judicial system. However, when it comes to identifying faces, people often make mistakes. Thus, it should not come as a surprise that eyewitness identification has been shown to be the number one factor of wrongful convictions (www.innoccenceproject.org). Therefore it is importantto understand the reasons that make eyewitnesses so error prone and investigate how we could enhance their performance. In the present article we examine the factors that have an impact on eyewitnessidentification performance. More specifically, we will refer to those variables over which the research community has reached consensus. These include estimator and system variables as well as postdictors,which are variables capable to diagnose the identification accuracy once it has taken place. In doing so we aim to reveal those parameters that are based on a sturdy research base, but have notwithstanding beenneglected by the Greek judicial system. We suggest a number of alterations and improvements, based on this research basis that can improve identification performance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Martschuk ◽  
Siegfried L. Sporer ◽  
Melanie Sauerland

AbstractSince the late 1980s evidence has been accumulating that confidence recorded at the time of identification is a reliable postdictor of eyewitness identification. Nonetheless, there may be noteworthy exceptions. In a re-analysis of a field study by Sauerland and Sporer (2009; N = 720; n = 436 choosers between 15 and 83 years old) we show that the postdictive value of confidence was reduced for participants aged 40 years or older. Different calibration indices and Bayesian analyses demonstrate a progressive dissociation between identification performance and confidence across age groups. While the confidence expressed following an identification remained unchanged across the lifespan, identification accuracy decreased. Young, highly confident witnesses were much more likely to be accurate than less confident witnesses. With increasing age, witnesses were more likely to be overconfident, particularly at the medium and high levels of confidence, and the postdictive value of confidence and decision times decreased. We conclude that witness age may be an important moderator to take into account when evaluating identification evidence.


2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 734-746 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Parliament ◽  
A. Daniel Yarmey

One-hundred twenty-eight undergraduates were shown a videotape of a staged crime of a young man abducting a child. Participants were instructed to role-play eyewitness behaviors in which they (a) lied to protect the perpetrator; (b) lied to protect the perpetrator but told the truth about the child; (c) lied to ensure the conviction of the perpetrator; or (d) responded truthfully and accurately to the best of their ability. One week later, participants were given a target-present or target-absent photo lineup of both the perpetrator and the child-victim. Participants instructed to lie to protect the perpetrator consistently stated he was not present as opposed to selecting an innocent person. In addition, participants lying to protect the perpetrator were significantly quicker to make identification decisions than participants attempting to make an accurate identification. There were no significant differences between groups in identification performance or in decision times involving the child lineup.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renan Benigno Saraiva ◽  
Inger Mathilde van Boeijen ◽  
LORRAINE HOPE ◽  
Melanie SAUERLAND ◽  
Robert Horselenberg ◽  
...  

Distinguishing accurate from inaccurate identifications is a challenging issue in the criminal justice system, especially for biased police lineups. That is because biased lineups undermine the diagnostic value of accuracy postdictors such as confidence and decision time. Here, we aimed to test general and eyewitness-specific self-ratings of memory capacity as potential estimators of identification performance that are unaffected by lineup bias. Participants (N = 744) completed a metamemory assessment consisting of the Multifactorial Metamemory Questionnaire and the Eyewitness Metamemory Scale and took part in a standard eyewitness paradigm. Following the presentation of a mock-crime video, they viewed either biased or unbiased lineups. Self-ratings of discontentment with eyewitness memory ability were indicative of identification accuracy for both biased and unbiased lineups. Participants who scored low on eyewitness metamemory factors also displayed a stronger confidence-accuracy calibration than those who scored high. These results suggest a promising role for self-ratings of memory capacity in the evaluation of eyewitness identifications, while also advancing theory on self-assessments for different memory systems.


2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon M. Andersen ◽  
Curt A. Carlson ◽  
Maria Carlson ◽  
Scott D. Gronlund

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 2338
Author(s):  
Júlio Medeiros ◽  
Ricardo Couceiro ◽  
Gonçalo Duarte ◽  
João Durães ◽  
João Castelhano ◽  
...  

An emergent research area in software engineering and software reliability is the use of wearable biosensors to monitor the cognitive state of software developers during software development tasks. The goal is to gather physiologic manifestations that can be linked to error-prone scenarios related to programmers’ cognitive states. In this paper we investigate whether electroencephalography (EEG) can be applied to accurately identify programmers’ cognitive load associated with the comprehension of code with different complexity levels. Therefore, a controlled experiment involving 26 programmers was carried. We found that features related to Theta, Alpha, and Beta brain waves have the highest discriminative power, allowing the identification of code lines and demanding higher mental effort. The EEG results reveal evidence of mental effort saturation as code complexity increases. Conversely, the classic software complexity metrics do not accurately represent the mental effort involved in code comprehension. Finally, EEG is proposed as a reference, in particular, the combination of EEG with eye tracking information allows for an accurate identification of code lines that correspond to peaks of cognitive load, providing a reference to help in the future evaluation of the space and time accuracy of programmers’ cognitive state monitored using wearable devices compatible with software development activities.


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