Premium
Post‐identification feedback: exploring the effects of sequential photospreads and eyewitnesses' awareness of the identification task
Author(s) -
Douglass Amy Bradfield,
McQuistonSurrett Dawn
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
applied cognitive psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1099-0720
pISSN - 0888-4080
DOI - 10.1002/acp.1253
Subject(s) - identification (biology) , psychology , suspect , eyewitness identification , task (project management) , social psychology , cognitive psychology , computer science , data mining , botany , criminology , management , relation (database) , economics , biology
Two experiments tested whether the sequential photospread procedure would protect eyewitnesses against memory distortion from post‐identification feedback. In Experiment 1, participants ( N = 245) watched a videotaped event and then viewed a sequential or simultaneous target‐absent photospread. After their identification, participants were randomly assigned to hear confirming feedback ‘Good, you identified the suspect.’ or no feedback (control). Participants then completed a questionnaire assessing testimony‐relevant retrospective judgments. Post‐hoc analyses revealed that the sequential photospread only protected against post‐identification feedback effects for participants who reported that, while they watched the video, they did not expect to make an identification. A second experiment ( N = 320) was conducted to manipulate expectations about the identification task and the presence of the target. This experiment revealed that the post‐identification feedback effect persists across witnesses' expectations and lineup type. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.