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ERIC Number: EJ1261675
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0888-4080
EISSN: N/A
The Number of Fillers May Not Matter as Long as They All Match the Description: The Effect of Simultaneous Lineup Size on Eyewitness Identification
Wooten, Alex R.; Carlson, Curt A.; Lockamyeir, Robert F.; Carlson, Maria A.; Jones, Alyssa R.; Dias, Jennifer L.; Hemby, Jacob A.
Applied Cognitive Psychology, v34 n3 p590-604 May-Jun 2020
According to the Diagnostic Feature-Detection (DFD) hypothesis, the presence of fillers that match the eyewitness's description of the perpetrator will boost discriminability beyond a showup, and very few fillers may suffice to produce the advantage. We tested this hypothesis by comparing showups with simultaneous lineups of size 3, 6, 9, and 12. Participants (N = 10,433) were randomly assigned to one of these conditions, as well as target-present (TP) versus target-absent (TA) lineup. As predicted by the DFD hypothesis, lineups were superior to showups, and there was no advantage with increased lineup size beyond a 3-member lineup. The confidence-accuracy (CA) relationship held a similar pattern. The only effect of increased lineup size was a lower likelihood of choosing a suspect (guilty or innocent). We conclude that police should focus more on the quality rather than quantity of fillers.
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institute of Justice (NIJ) (DOJ)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A