Effects of postidentification feedback on eyewitness identification and nonidentification confidence.
Two experiments investigated new dimensions of the effect of confirming feedback on eyewitness identification confidence using target-absent and target-present lineups and (previously unused) unbiased witness instructions (i.e., "offender not present" option highlighted). In Experiment 1, participants viewed a crime video and were later asked to try to identify the thief from an 8-person target-absent photo array. Feedback inflated witness confidence for both mistaken identifications and correct lineup rejections. With target-present lineups in Experiment 2, feedback inflated confidence for correct and mistaken identifications and lineup rejections. Although feedback had no influence on the confidence-accuracy correlation, it produced clear overconfidence. Confidence inflation varied with the confidence measure reference point (i.e., retrospective vs. current confidence) and identification response latency.
Semmler
Carolyn
C
School of Psychology, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Brewer
Neil
N
Wells
Gary L
GL
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003415:Crime / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D003463:Cues; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011930:Reaction Time; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D014743:Videotape Recording