This study tested additional diagnostic feature-detection theory (DFT) predictions by manipulating the presence of facial information (i.e., the exterior region of the face) at both encoding and retrieval with a large between-subjects factorial design (N = 19,414).
The diagnostic feature-detection theory (DFT) of eyewitness identification is based on facial information that is diagnostic versus non-diagnostic of suspect guilt. It primarily has been tested by discounting non-diagnostic information at retrieval, typically by surrounding a single suspect showup with good fillers to create a lineup. In support of DFT and in replication of the literature, lineups yielded higher discriminability than showups. In support of encoding specificity, conditions that matched information between encoding and retrieval were generally superior to mismatch conditions. More importantly, study findings supported several DFT and encoding specificity predictions not previously tested, including that (a) adding non-diagnostic information will reduce discriminability for showups more so than lineups, and (b) removing diagnostic information will lower discriminability for both showups and lineups. These results have implications for police deciding whether to conduct a showup or a lineup, and when dealing with partially disguised perpetrators (e.g., wearing a hoodie). (publisher abstract modified)
Downloads
Similar Publications
- Criticality of Spray Solvent Choice on the Performance of Next Generation, Spray-Based Ambient Mass Spectrometric Ionization Sources: A Case Study Based on Synthetic Cannabinoid Forensic Evidence
- Learning from Our Casework: The Forensic Anthropology Database for Assessing Methods Accuracy
- Exploring CLIP for Real World, Text-based Image Retrieval