Searching for the sequential line-up advantage: a distinctiveness explanation.
Gronlund ( 2005 ) proposed that one factor leading to a sequential line-up advantage could be the greater likelihood of recollecting distinctive information about a perpetrator when using a sequential line-up. Since then questions have been raised about the robustness of the sequential advantage and the possible moderating role of line-up fairness and suspect position. We manipulated these factors as well as suspect/target distinctiveness in two experiments. A sequential advantage occurred only after encoding a distinctive target, both for biased line-ups (Experiment 1) and fair line-ups (Experiment 2). Remember-Know results were consistent with the greater use of a recall-to-reject strategy in target-absent sequential line-ups. This provided support for the first process-based explanation of the sequential line-up advantage. No consistent position effects were found, but this might be due to the line-up recognition paradigm used, in which each participant viewed a line-up for each of several targets. Theory-based explorations of eyewitness identification are necessary to continue to delineate the underpinnings of the sequential line-up advantage.
Department of Psychology, Counseling, & Special Education, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Commerce, TX 75429, USA. curt_carlson@tamu-commerce.edu
Curt A
CA
Carlson
Scott D
SD
Gronlund
D003416:Criminal Law / Q000379:methods*; D005145:Face; D006801:Humans; D011939:Mental Recall; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D021641:Recognition, Psychology