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Recognition of facial stimuli following an intervening task involving the Identi-kit

Article Abstract:

The Identi-kit is a tool for constructing a facial composite. The types of errors made on a recognition task, following an intervening task involving the Identi-kit, were examined in this study. One hundred and eight introductory psychology students viewed a target composite-face and made an Identi-kit reconstruction. Subsequently, they were required to identify the original composite-face from a lineup of six composite-faces. Subjects who made an Identi-kit reconstruction were prone to make more errors on the recognition task than participants in a control condition, P is less than .01. False alarms were promoted when the subjects saw a lineup containing foils modified to resemble the subjects' own reconstruction errors, p is less than .05. When the foils in the lineup were not modified to resemble the subjects' own errors, those who made an Identi-kit reconstruction were more prone to miss the target, p is less than .05. This finding suggests that memory for facial stimuli can be influenced by viewing misleading information. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Psychological aspects, Face

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Verbal, visual, and voice identification of a rape suspect under different levels of illumination

Article Abstract:

Research indicates that male and female witnesses to violent crimes are equally reliable and that voice identification of the criminal does not increase as the ability to visually identify the criminal decreases. In the study, the subjects witnessed a simulated rape under varying conditions: at night, at twilight, at the start of twilight, and in daylight. Subsequent testing of the witnesses indicated no significant differences along sexual lines with regard to recall, visual identification, voice identification or the subjective confidence of the witness. Male witnesses did, however, demonstrate better reliability in cued recall situations.

Perception, Perception (Psychology), Rape, Recollection (Psychology), Recall (Memory)

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Eyewitnesses show hypermnesia for details about a violent event

Article Abstract:

A total of 90 undergraduates watched a videotape that portrayed a burglar breaking into a home and shooting three innocent victims. The 2-min tape contained 47 important violent and nonviolent details. Subjects recalled increasingly more details on each of four successive recall trials, including a trial 48 hr after seeing the tape. Instructions to use context or emotion as retrieval cues did not affect recall gains, and the gains were not the result of increased guessing. We conclude that eyewitness accounts may become more accurate with repeated attempts to recall information. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Examination of witnesses, Witness examination

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