Abstract
The descriptive and identification abilities of adolescents and adults were examined. Three identification procedures were used; simultaneous, sequential, and elimination. Adolescents (M = 16.49 years; N = 192) and adults (M = 20.16 years; N = 177) viewed a videotape of a staged theft. Participants were asked to describe the perpetrator, and following a brief delay were shown either a target-present or -absent lineup using one of the identification procedures. Adolescents and adults reported on average 7.63 descriptors. Clothing descriptors were most commonly reported with approximately half the descriptors relating to clothing. Correct identification rates were not associated with number of descriptors but were found to differ as a function of identification procedure with witnesses being more accurate when presented with a simultaneous lineup compared to an elimination lineup. Correct rejection rates significantly differed as a function of identification procedure with witnesses being more likely to correctly reject the lineup when presented with an elimination lineup compared to a simultaneous or sequential lineup. Witness age was not found to influence accuracy. The advantages and disadvantages of using each identification procedure are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Brewer N, Day K (2005) The confidence-accuracy and decision latency-accuracy relationships in children’s eyewitness identification. Psychiatr Psychol Law 12:119–128
Brigham JC, Van Verst M, Bothwell RK (1986) Accuracy of children’s eyewitness identifications in a field setting. Basic Appl Soc Psychol 7:295–306. doi:10.1207/s15324834basp0704_4
Chance J, Goldstein AG (1976) Recognition of faces and verbal labels. Bull Psychon Soc 7:384–386
Clark SE, Davey SL (2005) The target-to-foils shift in simultaneous and sequential lineups. Law Hum Behav 29:151–172. doi:10.1007/s10979-005-2418-7
Clifford BR, Bull R (1978) The psychology of person identification. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London
Cutler BL, Penrod SD (1988) Improving the reliability of eyewitness identification: lineup construction and presentation. J Appl Psychol 73:281–290. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.73.2.281
Cutler BL, Penrod SD, Martens TK (1987) Improving the reliability of eyewitness identification: putting context into context. J Appl Psychol 72:629–637. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.72.4.629
Davies G, Stevenson-Robb Y, Flin R (1988) Tales out of school: children’s memory for an unexpected event. In: Grunberg MM, Morris PE, Sykes RN (eds) Practical aspects of memory: current research and issues, vol 1, Memory in everyday life. John Wiley & Sons, Oxford, pp 122–127
Davies G, Tarrant A, Flin R (1989) Close encounters of the witness kind: children’s memory for a simulated health inspection. Br J Psychol 80:415–429
Dempsey JL, Pozzulo JD (2008) Identification accuracy of eyewitnesses for a multiple perpetrator crime: examining the simultaneous and elimination lineup procedures. Am J Forensic Psychol 26:67–81
Dent H (1982) The effects of interviewing strategies on the results of interviews with child witnesses. In: Trankell A (ed) Reconstructing the past. Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp 279–298
Diamond R, Carey S (1977) Developmental changes in the representation of faces. J Exp Child Psychol 23:1–22. doi:10.1016/0022-0965(77)90069-8
Ellis HD (1984) Practical aspects of face memory. In: Wells GL, Loftus EF (eds) Eyewitness testimony: psychological perspectives. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 12–37
Ellis HD, Shepherd JW, Davies GM (1980) The deterioration of verbal descriptions of faces over different delay intervals. J Police Sci Admin 8:101–106
Fahsing IA, Ask K, Granhag P (2004) The man behind the mask: accuracy and predictors of eyewitness offender descriptions. J Appl Psychol 89(4):722–729. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.89.4.722
Finger K, Pezdek K (1999) The effect of the cognitive interview on face identification accuracy: release from verbal overshadowing. J Appl Psychol 84:340–348
Flexser AJ, Tulving E (1978) Retrieval independence in recognition and recall. Psychol Rev 85:153–171. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.85.3.153
Flin RH, Shepherd JW (1986) Tall stories: eyewitnesses’ ability to estimate height and weight characteristics. Hum Learn J Practical Res Appl 5:29–38
Goldstein AG, Johnson KS, Chance JE (1979) Does fluency of face description imply superior face recognition? Bull Psychon Soc 13:15–18
Granhag PA, Ask K, Rebelius A (2005) “I saw the man who killed Anna Lindh”. A case study of witnesses’ offender descriptions. Oral paper presented at the 15’th European Conference on Psychology and Law (Vilnius, Lithuania)
Gronlund SD (2004) Sequential lineups: shift in criterion or decision strategy? J Appl Psychol 89:362–368. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.89.2.362
Havard C, Memon A, Clifford B, Gabbert F (2010) A comparison of video and static photo lineups with child and adolescent witnesses. Appl Cogn Psychol 24:1209–1221. doi:10.1002/acp.1645
Innocence Project (2011) In Innocence Project. Retrieved December 12, 2011 from http://www.innocenceproject.org
Lindsay RC, Wells GL (1985) Improving eyewitness identifications from lineups: simultaneous versus sequential lineup presentation. J Appl Psychol 70:556–564
Lindsay RC, Lea JA, Fulford JA (1991) Sequential lineup presentation: technique matters. J Appl Psychol 76:741–745. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.76.5.741
Luus CE, Wells GL (1991) Eyewitness identification and the selection of distracters for lineups. Law Hum Behav 15:43–57. doi:10.1007/BF01044829
MacLin OH, Zimmerman LA, Malpass RS (2005) PC eyewitness and the sequential superiority effect: computer-based lineup administration. Law Hum Behav 29:303–321. doi:10.1007/s10979-005-3319-5
Malpass RS, Lavigueur H, Weldon DE (1973) Verbal and visual training in face recognition. Percept Psychophys 14:285–292
McQuiston-Surrett D, Malpass RS, Tredoux CG (2006) Sequential vs. simultaneous lineups: a review of methods, data and theory. Psychol Publ Pol Law 12:137–169. doi:10.1037/1076-8971.12.2.137
Meissner CA, Brigham JC (2001) A meta-analysis of the verbal overshadowing effect in face identification. Appl Cogn Psychol 15:603–616
Memon A, Gabbert F (2003) Improving the identification accuracy of senior witnesses: do prelineup questions and sequential testing help? J Appl Psychol 88:341–347. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.88.2.341
Pigott M, Brigham JC (1985) Relationship between accuracy of prior description and facial recognition. J Appl Psychol 70:547–555. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.70.3.547
Pigott M, Brigham JC, Bothwell RK (1990) A field study on the relationship between quality of eyewitnesses’ descriptions and identification accuracy. J Police Sci Admin 17:84–88
Pozzulo JD, Balfour J (2006) Children’s and adults’ eyewitness identification accuracy when a culprit changes his appearance: comparing simultaneous and elimination lineup procedures. Leg Criminol Psychol 11:25–34
Pozzulo JD, Lindsay RCL (1998) Identification accuracy of children versus adults: a meta-analysis. Law Hum Behav 22:549–570
Pozzulo JD, Lindsay RCL (1999) Elimination lineups: an improved identification procedure for child eyewitnesses. J Appl Psychol 84:167–176
Pozzulo JD, Warren KL (2003) Descriptions and identifications of strangers by youth and adult eyewitnesses. J Appl Psychol 88:315–323. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.88.2.315
Pozzulo JD, Dempsey J, Corey S, Girardi A, Lawandi A, Aston C (2008) Can a lineup procedure designed for child witnesses work for adults: comparing simultaneous, sequential, and elimination lineup procedures. J Appl Soc Psychol 38:2195–2209
Pozzulo JD, Dempsey J, Crescini C (2009a) Preschoolers’ person description and identification accuracy: a comparison of the simultaneous and elimination lineup procedures. J Appl Dev Psychol 30:667–676. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2009.01.004
Pozzulo JD, Dempsey JL, Crescini C, Lemieux J (2009b) Examining the relation between recall and recognition in an eyewitness context for children and adults. Psychol Crime Law 15:409–423
Pozzulo JD, Dempsey JL, O'Neill M, Grech D (2009c) The relationship between recalling a Person and recognizing that Person. Am J Forensic Psychol 27:19–36
Sporer SL (1996) Psychological aspects of person descriptions. In: Sporer SL, Malpass RS, Guenter K (eds) Psychological issues in eyewitness identification. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Hillsdale, pp 53–86
Statistics Canada (2001) Retrieved 9 September 2007 from http://www.statcan.ca/bsolc/english/bsolc?catno=85F0033M2001005.htm
Steblay N, Dysart J, Fulero S, Lindsay RCL (2001) Eyewitness accuracy rates in sequential and simultaneous lineup presentations: a meta-analytic comparison. Law Hum Behav 25:459–473. doi:10.1023/A:1012888715007
Steblay N, Dysart J, Wells G (2011) Seventy-two tests of the sequential lineup superiority effect: a meta-analysis and policy discussion. Psychol Publ Policy Law 17:99–139. doi:10.1037/a0021650
U.S. Department of Justice (2005) Juvenile victimization and offending, 1993-2003 (NCJ 209468). Retrieved from http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/jvo03.pdf
van Koppen PJ, Lochun SK (1997) Portraying perpetrators: the validity of offender descriptions by witnesses. Law Hum Behav 21(6):661–685. doi:10.1023/A:1024812831576
Wells GL (1984) The psychology of lineup identifications. J Appl Soc Psychol 14:89–103. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1984.tb02223.x
Wells GL (1993) What do we know about eyewitness identification? Am Psychol 48:553–571
Wells GL, Rydell SM, Seelau EP (1993) The selection of distractors for eyewitness lineups. J Appl Psychol 78:835–844
Wells GL, Small M, Penrod S, Malpass RS, Fulero SM, Brimacombe CAE (1998) Eyewitness identification procedures: recommendations for lineups and photospreads. Law Hum Behav 22:603–647
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Author Note
This research was supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to the first author.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pozzulo, J.D., Dempsey, J. & Pettalia, J. The Z Generation: Examining Perpetrator Descriptions and Lineup Identification Procedures. J Police Crim Psych 28, 63–74 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-012-9107-5
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-012-9107-5