Abstract
Previous research has produced equivocal results with regard to whether facial composite creation affects subsequent eyewitness identification accuracy, but the most widely publicized view is that creating a composite impairs the ability to later recognize the perpetrator from a line-up. In our first experiment, we examined this effect using several ecologically valid elements including a live staged crime, trained police officers, and a long delay between construction and identification, albeit with only a short delay between crime and composite construction. Composite construction did not significantly affect line-up identification accuracy. Experiment 2 replicated this result using a laboratory-based design and sequential line-up task, eliminating the possibly confounding effect of differential levels of motivation and relative judgments. Taken together, the experiments suggest composite creation may not negatively impact subsequent line-up accuracy, regardless of whether an ecologically valid method or more standard laboratory testing was used.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 319-336 |
Number of pages | 18 |
Journal | Criminal Justice and Behavior |
Volume | 46 |
Issue number | 2 |
Early online date | 8 Nov 2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Feb 2019 |
Funding
auThors’ noTe: The authors would especially like to thank West Yorkshire Police, the Thames Valley Police Force, the Isle of Man Police Force, and the National Training Centre for Scientific Support to Crime Investigation, whose cooperation made this research possible. The research reported here was supported by the U.K. Home Office through the Innovations Fund Scheme. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Graham E. Pike, School of Psychology, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK; e-mail: [email protected].
Funders | Funder number |
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Isle of Man Police Force | |
Thames Valley Police Force | |
U.K. Home Office | |
West Yorkshire Police |