Review/Study Guide test 2
Identify and explain the nine consensus recommendations for eyewitness identification procedures put together by the AP-LS subcommittee (Wells et al., 1998; 2020).
!. Pre-linup Interview, ASAP after crime taken by officer 2. Evidence-based suspicion, you need more evidence based grounds than a suspicion or a hunch to include someone in a lineup as a suspect 3. Double-Blind (or equivalent) procedures should be used, prevents feedback loop effect or investigator pressure 4. Lineup Fillers, only 1 suspect per lineup with a minimum of 5 appropriate fillers 5. Prelineup Instructions, police must instruct the witness before any lineup procedure (photo or live) that a) the lineup admin doesnt know which person is the suspect b) the culprit might not be in the lineup at all, answer could be "none" c) if they cant make a decision they can respond that they "dont know" d) after making a decision they will be asked of their confidence e) the investigation will continue regardless of their identification 6. An immediate confidence statement will be taken as soon as they make an identification 7. Video-Recording, everything from first interview, to instructions, to confidence statement 8. Avoid Repeated Identifications, dont repeat investigation with the same suspect and same eyewitness, even if they identified the suspect in the initial procedure or not, this prevents confidence build up 9. Avoid the use of show-ups unless absolutely dire need
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (1974)
-Law enacted in 1974 that requires the reporting of child abuse or suspected abuse, -children can be elected a Guardian Ad Litem (GAL; court reported guardian) in charges against family/parents in court, and -says maltreatment occurs when an action (or lack of) produces an unacceptable risk of physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation, the target is under 18, and the perpetrator is caretaker or legal guardian
AP-LS Eyewitness Identification Subcommittee Recommendations (Wells et al., 1998; 2020)
1. Prelinup Interview (officer interview witness ASAP for initial view, say nothing confirming) 2. Evidence-based suspicion (there should be evidence based grounds of guilt before that suspect is included in a lineup) 3. Double-blind (or equivalent) (neither the administrator nor the witness should know who the suspect is in the lineup) 4. Lineup Fillers (1 sus per lineup, atleast 5 appropriate fillers) 5. Prelinup Instructions (a. the lineup admin doesnt know who is suspect; (b) the culprit may not be in lineup; c) they can say they "don't know"; (d) a confidence statement will beasked; and (e) the investigation will continue even if no Identification is make 6. Immediate Confidence Statement (ASAP after ID decision (positive or negative) is made) 7. Video-Recording (entire, including prelinup instructions and post confidence statement) 8. Avoid repeated identifications (include dif ppl in lineup) 9. Showups (avoid at all cost unless necessary)
Wells et al. (1998; 2020)
1998 Stated at least 3 of the Manson Criteria are problematic because they are influenced by suggestive procedures; 2020 gave the AP-LS subcommittee recommendations to prevent eyewitness misidentification: pre-lineup interview, evidence based suspicion, double-blind, pre-lineup instructions, confidence statement, video recording, avoid repeated ID, and show-ups
Anatomically Detailed Dolls
A doll, sometimes like a rag doll, that is consistent with the male or female anatomy; can be a suggestive technique, commonly used in RATAC, not as much in NICHD
Jennifer Thompson
A rape victim who was determined to figure out the assailant, fell victim to post-identification feedback effect with confirmation.
Hearsay Testimony
A special accommodation courts make for children, where children who may not be comptent/stable enough to testify in court, there will be an allowance for someone else to testify for children (hearsay). More than half states allow this exception.
Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV)
A special accommodation for children in courtrooms, where children testify and it is broadcasted in court on a TV for jurors/audience to see
Righarts, O'Neill, & Zajac (2013)
A study that identified a way to prepare a child for court is role-play..practice examination and cross examination
Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome (CSAAS)
A syndrome hypothesized to occur in children who have been victims of sexual abuse; it is characterized by feelings of helplessness, confusion, and fear. Sexually abused children are are reluctant to report even if asked directly and often recant earlier disclosures or allegations
Guardian Ad Litem (GAL)
AKA A Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA); court-appointed advocate who is responsible for pursuing the best interests of a child when an abusive or neglectful parent cannot fulfill that role; usually attorneys, but some states allow specially trained volunteers The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (1974) recommended victims be appointed in charges against family and the The Victims of Child Abuse Act (1990) recommended appointment in criminal cases
(Child) Neglect / Failure to Provide
Abandonment or failure to provide basic needs and requirements for someone under the age of 18
National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System
Administered by Federal Department of Health and Human Services. Incident level reports from state child protective services. Distinguishes types of child abuse.
Narrative Elaboration
An interview procedure whereby children learn to organize their story into relevant categories: participants, settings, actions, conversation/affective states, and consequences. Each category has a card to act as a cue, children will practice telling stories with the cards prior to being asked about the critical event, then asking children to report across categories increases information recalled
Maggie Bruck
Another research often pairing with Ceci to study suggestibility, discussed suggestive techniques and considerations for child's memory in 2013 report with Bruck
Biased Lineup / Unbiased Lineup
Biased lineups—suggest who the police suspect and thereby who the witness should identify; ex: SNL skit, funny showing how obvious that suspect stood out in a lineup, types of biases are foil bias, clothing bias, instruction bias; unbiased lineups are when witnesses dont feel a strong pressure to make an identification, they dont feel demand characteristics, the foils dont match the suspect identically but they should be similar to the suspect, and the procedure is done in an unbiased way.
Define and differentiate between the different forms of maltreatment.
Child Abuse and Treatment Act of 1974 says maltreatment occurs when 1. an Action (or lack of) produces unacceptable risk of physical/emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation 2. the target is under 18 3. and the perpetrator is a caretaker or a legal guardian. Maltreatment has 2 off shoots: abuse and neglect. Abuse is a non-accidental infliction of injury, physical, sexual, or emotional, it is an act of commission Neglect is abandonment or failure to provide the basic needs and requirements, it can be emotionally, physically, educationally, or medically, it is an oct of ommission
Taint Hearing
Created from the New Jersey V Michaels 1994; a pretrial taint hearing evaluates the extent to which children testimonial statements have been rendered unreliable due to suggestive interviewing practices
RATAC Interview Protocol
Developed by CornerHouse Advocacy center in 1989; the five elements are: -rapport -anatomy identification -touch inquiry -abuse scenario -closure
NICHD Interview Protocol
Developed by Michael Lamb in 2000 Based on research-based recommendation, encourages the use of open-ended prompts to elicit verbal narrative responses; phases include: -introductory phase -rapport building phase -training episodic memory/narrative event practice -transition to substantive issues -free recall phase -closure Includes interviewer prompts such as facilitator, invitation, cued invitation, and directive
Elimination Lineup
Developed lineup procedure by Pozzulo and Lindsay (1999) to help children with lineup procedures, significantly reduces false positive responding. Step 1: All lineup photos are presented and a kid is asked to ID who looks mostly like the culprit Step 2: child is asked to compare his/her memory of the. culprit with the photo in Step 1 to decide if it is in fact the culprit.
Michael Lamb
Developed the National Institute of Child health and Human Development (NICHD) Investigative Interview protocol for children in 2000
Summit (1983)
Estb. Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome (CSAAS) saying that patients speaking about their childhood sexual abuse are reluctant to report even if asked directly and often recant earlier disclosures or allegation
Distinguish between system and estimator variables as related to eyewitness research. Provide examples of each.
Estimator variables are factors that are present at the time of the event that cannot be changed and the justice system cannot control, for example lighting conditions, the mental state of the suspect, the race of the suspect, the age of the witness, if a weapon was present, and the emotional arousal of the witness. While System variables are factors controlled by the justice system that can be changed to increase or decrease eyewitness accuracy, for example the questioning procedure, question wording, identification and line-up construction.
Ground Rules
Expectations regarding acceptable behavior; established in the introductory phase of the NICHD because children are given interview instructions
What are system and estimator factors that influence children's eyewitness memory? What might forensic interviewers do to facilitate children's accurate reporting and minimize the potential for reporting errors?
For system variables, a child memory can be impaired by interview bias, leading/suggestive questioning, repetition of interviews, bribes or rewards, stereotypes, peer pressure, or non verbal props used. Systematically, open ended prompts, narrative practice, and having a supportive rather than intimidating interviwer helps facilitate a childs memory. Estimator variables that influence a childs memory are age (more details, accuracy, with age), the length of delay, the context of this disclosure (ex: who is the abuser, is there parental divorce), the number of alleged incidents (if it occured once., or many times), and the trauma or stress a child may feel toward the situation. I would suggest to the interviewer to build rapport and make the child feel comfortable before using open ended prompts to nudge them towards talking about what occured, avoid asking the same question twice or reframe it the next time is is asked, dont appear threatening but rather a supportive friend, and avoid use of nonverbal props like dolls or drawings.
Ronald Cotton
He was sentenced to life plus 54 years in 1987 but claimed he was innocent. DNA evidence cleared him of the crime that was committed by an inmate Bobby Poole who confessed to the crimes. Convicted on the eyewitness identification of Jennifer Thompson, a flashlight, and a piece of rubber shoe.
Elizabeth Loftus
Her research on memory construction and the misinformation effect created doubts about the accuracy of eye-witness testimony. Notable studies include the "lost in the mall study" where she implanted false memories in 25% of people, and the "smashed" vs "hit" wording changing peoples perceptions (misinformation effect)
Wee Case Nursery Case / Kelly Michaels Trial (1988-1994)
In 1985 Kelly Michaels of Wee Care day care was accused of molesting 20 kids aged 3-5, these kids spoke of her playing the piano naked and many other wild forms of exaggerated truth, she was prosecuted, convicted, but only spent 5 years in prison after an Appellate court ruled many features of the original trial had unjust rulings considering the quality of child testimony.
Manson Criteria
In Neil V. Biggers 1972, 5 factors jurors are instructed to keep in mind during eyewitness identification accuracy: Witness opportunity to observe the perp, Witness level of attention, Accuracy of witness previous description of the culprit, Degree of certainty displayed by witness, Time between event witnessed and identification
Describe the different procedures that can be used with eyewitness identification lineups. In particular, distinguish between target-present and target-absent lineups, live lineups and photo arrays, and simultaneous and sequential lineups.
In target-present lineups, the lineup contains the culprit along with other fillers, while in target-absent lineups the lineup does not contain the culprit and only consists of fillers. Photo lineups consists of a photo collage where an eyewitness selects who they belived to have seen, this is where Thompson heard feedback on her selections. During a live lineup the eyewitness looks at the same room of the possible offender and fillers, if they select the same person as they did in a photo array then it may be likely to be that person. A simultaneous lineup is a common live lineup procedure where all lineup members are presented at the same time to the witness, this is often portrayed on media, there are usually 6 people (1 suspect, 5 fillers) this involves relative judgements where people in the lineup are compared with the other. In sequential lineups the lineup members are presented individually in a serial presentation, this involved absolute judgements where each member will be compared to the witness's memory. Sequential lineups are more conservative, where they are less likely to identify someone guilty but also less likely to falsely ID someone. In Simultaneous lineups will identify culprits at a higher rate but also falsely identify people at a higher rate.
What does the case of Ronald Cotton show about eyewitness identification memory and procedures?
In the case of Ronald Cotton and Jennifer Thompson, Thompson reacted to her rape response to the stress with an orienting response, where the memory for central information increased. Later when attempting to identify her rapist, she identified someone from the lineup and police said "We thought this might be the one." She consolidated this information in her head thanks to the post-identification feedback effect, she could only picture Cotton as the assailant, and after Cotton was proven guilty no face appeared to her to be her rapist. Poole never consolidated in her memory as her assailant, so he doesnt appear in her flashbacks to trauma. This showed how powerful feedback can be in eyewitness identification, the need for double blind lineup procedures, and limited/no feedback.
What are similarities in legal definitions of maltreatment observed across all states? What are some key differences in legal definitions of maltreatment across statutes?
In the legal definitions of maltreatment, there is consensus across all states that the victim 1. must be a child 2. the perpetrator must be a caregiver (stranger cases are handled by law enforcement under conventional crimes) 3. act of omissions (neglect) count as maltreatment 4. the risk of harm is sufficient enough to establish maltreatment States differ in: 1. whether corporal punishment is physical abuse 2. exceptions in definitions, such that poverty cannot be a reason for neglect in Alabama 3. witnessing domestic violence is a crime 4. substance abuse, if the mother giving birth test positive for illicit drugs in 14 states it can be considered maltreatment 5. how they define and interpret emotional abuse
Compare and contrast the RATAC and NICHD child interview protocols. What are some similarities in the procedures? What are some key differences?
In these two protocols the similarities are as follows: -ASAP timing after the incident, -keeping a supportive, warm, friendly, objective interview demeanor -it is important to build rapport -being flexible and adapting to each individual child -have peer reviews and ongoing training, as well as support and feedback from peers Differences in the two protocols are as follows: -interviewer instructions, the NICHD has ground rules in intro phase -The narrative event practice is greatly emphasized in the NICHD -to transition to the topic of concern, the RATAC introduces a touch inquiry while the NICHD uses open-ended transitions to avoid suggestibility -the use of child drawings, and dolls are commonly used in the RATAC, but rarely in the NICHD
Step-Wise Interview
Interview protocol with a series of "steps" designed to start the interview with the least leading and directive type of questioning, and then proceed to more specific forms of questioning, as necessary; this procedure is consistent with what we know about how to interview children to elicit accurate information
Victims of Child Abuse Act (1990)
Law that sought to improve the investigation and prosecution of child abuse cases. The child is presumed competent unless there is evidence to the contrary (FRE 601) and a trial judge is responsible for making ultimate decision on allowing child to testify; competency interviews are frequently asked of children during pre-trial interviews and at trial
How is child maltreatment in the United States measured? What does this data show regarding types of maltreatment and what type of children are at risk?
Obtaining accurate statistics on maltreatment is hard because maltreatment occurs in privacy, administrative data differs from self reported surveys, there is sampling differences, the different levels of analysis occur, there are differences in operational definitions as maltreatment, not all cases are substantiated. Data shows maltreatment to be 76.1% neglect, 16.7% physical abuse, 9.4% sexually abused only, 6.4% psychological maltreatment, 6.0% other, 2.0% medical neglect, .2% sex trafficking, and 77.2% of kids were maltreated by one or both parents. Girls are at a slightly higher rate than boys, they are at a substantially higher risk. of sexual abuse. Infants are most at risk for all types except for sexual abuse since they cannot speak or go to school, while kids 7-13 are the highest risk for sexual abuse. There are higher rates among hispanics and african americans, children with low income families are at greater risk, children with intellectual disabilities are also more vulnerable.
Misinformation (Post-Event Information) Effect
Occurs when a witness is provided with inaccurate information about an event after it is witnessed and incorporates the misinformation in their later recall. For example in Loftus's study saying "smashed" instead of "hit" then asking witnesses to recall the speed, usually when it said "smashed" they are higher. The misinformation acceptance hypothesis, source misattribution hypothesis and memory impairment hypothesis help explain this.
Why are judges reluctant to allow expert testimony on eyewitness memory?
Often judges are reluctant to allow testimony because they are having an expert battle over what who is important in the courtroom, the judge fears expert testimony may contradict their own power over the court, they battle over lay knowledge.
Gary Wells
Psychologist who studied eyewitness testimony and the idea of suggestibility, provided the APLS subcommittee recommendations for eyewitness identification, a meta-analysis on sequential vs simultaneous lineups, and problematic issues with the Manson Criteria
What is the distinction between recall and recognition memory? What eyewitness procedures rely on each type of memory?
Recall memory is the intentional bringing to mind of explicit information while recognition memory occurs when a person matches a newly encoded stimulus to one that has been stored in memory, stimuli helps a person remember. In eyewitness reports recall memory is used, while in eyewitness identification recognition memory is used.
Smalarz & Wells (2014)
Showed how confirming feedback following a mistaken identification impairs eyewitness memory for the original culprit, for example once Jennifer Thompson believed it to be Ronald Cotton she could not picture anyone else, even as he was proven to be innocent and they identified the real culprit
Stephen Ceci
Study children involvement in legal system, looked at mechanisms for suggestibility and suggestibility techniques, reversals in suggestibility, and stated in 2013 report that young children can provide accurate reports and the best data on reliable reports
Define memory suggestibility and describe how suggestibility might influence memory. Also, give some examples of suggestive techniques observed in investigative interviews.
Suggestibility is the degree to which the encoding, storage, retrieval, and reporting of events can be influenced by a range of internal and external factors. Suggestibility can impair memory in a cognitive way, were memory is actually impairing memory of original event, suggestibility can be social where false reports are given due to social pressures (not because they believe it) and suggestibility may begin social but turn cognitive when they accept suggestions and false info for social reasons and may eventually rewrite into actual false memory. All of these can be driven by interviewer bias. Suggestibility became a hot topic in many of the cases where children falsely claimed sexual abuse in the late 80s early 90s, for example the Wee Care Nursery Case (Kelly Michaels) and the McMartin Preschool case (Peggy and Buckey). Suggestive techniques used in interviews may be leading questions, repeated questioning, repeated interviews, implicit/explicit threat, bribe, or reward, the stereotype induction "bad man", peer pressure, and nonverbal props such as toys, dolls, and drawings
Lineup
The AP-LS subcommittee recommended changes to lineup procedures to improve eyewitness identification: Double-blind lineups, 1 suspect per lineup the rest are atleast five lineups, prelinup instructions should be given that the administrator doesnt know the suspect, there may not be a suspect present, they will be asked about their confidence in identification, the investigation will continue no matter what, avoiding showups, and video recording lineups. Lineup procedures are different with children because children give less detail, children have diffucult time in sequential lineups, lineup for children has 2 steps: Step 1: All lineup photos are presented and the child is asked to pick out the person who looks most like the culprit Step 2: The child is asked to compare his/her memory of the culprit with the photo in step 1 to decide if it is in fact the culprit
Innocence Project
The Innocence Project is a non-profit legal organization that is committed to exonerating wrongly convicted people through the use of DNA testing and to reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. Involved in 173/318 post-conviction exonerations through DNA testing in the US; Mistaken eyewitness ID contributed to 72% of wrongful convictions
Describe the five criteria (i.e., Manson Criteria) set out by the U.S. Supreme Court in Neil vs. Biggers (1972) and Manson v. Braithwaite (1977) that judges may use to instruct juries on the accuracy of eyewitness identification. Which of these criteria do researchers criticize?
The Manson Criteria include instructors jurors to keep in mind 1. the witness opportunity to observe the perpetrator 2. the witness level of attention 3. the accuracy of witness previous description of the culprit 4. the degree of certainty displayed by the witness 5. the time between the event witnessed and identification when evaluating accuracy of eyewitness identification
Compare and contrast the cognitive interview with the enhanced cognitive interview. What changes (enhancements) have been made to the enhanced cognitive interview?
The cognitive interview technique is based on memory retrieval techniques, like reinstating the context, reporting everything, recalling events in different orders, and changing perspectives. To enhance this basic technique the enhanced cognitive interview includes rapport building, supportive interview behavior, transferring the control, focused retrieval, and creating witness compatible questioning. Instead of reinstating context, rapport is built and supportive interview behavior is made.
Suggestibility
The degree to which the encoding, storage, retrieval, and reporting of events can be influenced by a range of internal and external factors
McMartin Preschool Case and Trial (1984-1990)
The most expensive case in LA county history began when a kid saw a news report about a girl being molested and claimed thats what occurred to him. This launched a large scale investigation into Peggy and her son Bucky McMartin who ran a preschool, where parents were suggestively asking their kids to describe if they had been sexually abused. Many of the children came forward and eventually described fantasized descriptions, like digging underground tunnels, ritualistic sexual abuses, and being flown on helicopters. Peggy went to trial for child molestation but they were acquitted due to lack of any single solid piece of evidence of sexual abuse. Her son Ray Buckey was cleared on 52 / 65 counts, then freed on bail after 5 years in jail. This case explained the importance of suggestive questioning techniques with children.
Postidentification feedback effect
The tendency for biased feedback after identification to distort the memory of eyewitnesses. Such feedback inflates eyewitnesses' confidence in their identification. Mock jurors dont appear to be sensitive to the inflated confidence, confident witnesses persuade jurors, but it doesnt equal accuracy, it is malleable and can increase over time as they recall feedback
What is Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome (CSAAS)? Why is the theory controversial?
Theorized by Summit in 1983, the Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome is a clinical opinion based on observations of adult psychiatric patients who were sexually abused as children, results showed sexually abused children are 1. reluctant to report if asked directly and 2. often recant earlier disclosures or allegations. However, it is controversial because much research shows that abused children don't engage in behaviors described in CSAAS, like denial and recantion appear to be an exception and not a rule as well as the simple fact that sometimes deny they were not abused because they were not.
Roland Summit
Theorized the Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome (CSAAS) stating adult victims of child sexual abuse are reluctant to talk about it and may later recant events of sexual abuse
Describe how lineup instructions, structure, and procedures can lead to eyewitness identification errors. Based on evidence, what would be your recommendations for conducting lineups?
There are 3 types of biases that increase false identification: instruction, foil, or clothing biases. In instruction error may occur when witnesses feel a strong pressure to make a identification, even if they aren't fully sure, this is described as demand characteristics. Structurally, the foils/fillers in a lineup should match similar enough to the culprit, but they shouldn't be identical to the point where they look like identical twins. When foils dont match the general description it can either be too hard to identify who it is, or it can be way too easy to identify who they believe to be the culprit. In lineup procedures, sequential vs simultaneous or target-present vs target absent lineups lineups can affect it. For example sequential lineups are more conservative while simultaneous lineups produce higher identification rates. To reduce eyewitness error in instruction error, provide clear instructions, get a confidence statement, and avoid show-ups where demand characteristics may be felt to be high. to Reduce foil error, find accurate fillers and dont include more than one suspect per lineup, and use only suspects with other evidence based suspicion. To avoid higher rates of false identifications, choose sequential lineups over simultaneous lineups since its conservative.
How does witness confidence related to witness accuracy?
There is a small positive correlation between witness confidence and their identification accuracy, however confidence of a witness is manipulated with post-identification feedback. Confident witnesses are persusaive to jurors, but confidence does not mean they are accurate. This confidence is malleable, as it increases over time, and with more identifications, which is why taking an immediate confidence statement after the first identification is important.
Neil v. Biggers (1972)
This case along with Manson v Braithwaite 1977 outlined 5 factors for judges to instruct jurors to analyze eyewitness testimony accuracy; Biggers factors=certainty, view, attention, description, and time. This was a rape misidentification, the victim saw him in the moonlight as he was raping her, not clear enough view to identify someone
Manson v. Braithwaite (1977)
This case along with Neil v. Biggers (1972) outlined 5 factors for judges to instruct jurors to analyze eyewitness testimony accuracy; Witness opportunity to observe the perp, Witness level of attention, Accuracy of witness previous description of the culprit, Degree of certainty displayed by witness, Time between event witnessed and identification. Specifically undercover bought narcotics from a vender, tried to use a single photograph to convict, but this method was deemed suggestive.
Thompson - Cotton Incident
This occurred when Jennifer Thompson (white rape victim, who dedicated herself to studying the face of the man raping her) and Ronald Cotton (wrongly accused black man). After Thompson identified Cotton police said "We though this might be the one" and she formed it to Cotton in her memory thanks to the Postidentification feedback effect. It was actually Bobby Poole, found out later after spending many years in prison. Thompson and Cotton actually work together to prevent false eyewitness identification, give speeches
Explain what it means when a maltreatment case is designated as substantiated as opposed to unsubstantiated or unfounded.
When a maltreatment case has been substantiated it means that the report of maltreatment has been followed up with and officially reported, where state child protective agency has determined maltreatment has occurred, only 20% of reported cases are substantiated. While unsubstantiated maltreatment cases are unfounded reports where there was not sufficient enough evidence under state laws to conclude or suspect that the child was maltreated or at-risk of being maltreated. Both substantiated and unsubstantiated cases have the same risks for negative outcomes in children, such as recidivism
According to Finkelhor (2013), what distinguishes the child victim category of maltreatment from categories of crimes and noncrimes?
While conventional crimes involving children could include rape, robbery, assault, and maltreatment such as abuse, neglect, or child labor, non crimes are acts that would be crimes if committed by adults against another adult, but are not since they involve children. For example, when young child siblings fight on a playground this is normal sibling violence, a non-crime, however if these siblings were adults fighting in public this would be some form of assault and become an actual crime.
How does eyewitness identification performance differ between children and adults? Based on these differences, what lineup procedure is use with children to reduce eyewitness identification errors?
With children, they dont provide as many details, especially young children. Children also focus more on exterior facial features, like hair, than interior facial features like noses. Whole height, weight, and age are frequently reported, accuracy is problematic for both children, youth, and adults. Children and adults produce comparable identification rates in target-present lineups, however in target-absent lineups children are more likely to falsely accuse someone (they have a lower correct rejection rate) than adults. Children also have a hard time in sequential lineups, so in 1999 Pozzulo and Lindsay developed the elimination lineup for kids. This elimination lineup consists of two steps that significantly reduces false positive rates. In step 1 (recognition): all lineup photos are presented and the child is asked to pick out a person who looks most like the culprit. In step 2 (recall): the child is asked to compare their memory of the culprit with the photo in step 1 and decide if it is in fact the culprit. If it is not the culprit, more lineups can be produced.
Direct Question Recall
Witnesses are asked a series of specific questions about the crime or the perpetrator
Open-ended Recall (Free Narrative)
Witnesses are asked to either write or orally state all they remember about the event without the officer (or experimenter) asking questions.
Simultaneous Lineup
a common lineup procedure that presents all lineup members at one time to the witness; lineups identify culprits at a higher rate, but at the cost of a higher rate of false identifications
Repression
a proposed Freudian defense mechanism in which painful, threatening, or traumatic memories can be pushed out of conscious awareness and locked away in the unconscious for years or decades
Cross-race Effect
aka Own Race Bias—Witnesses are able to remember faces of their own race more accurately than faces of other races. It also may relate to attitudes, physiognomic homogeneity, or a persons interracial contact
Loftus and Palmer (1974)
an example of the post-event information effect/misinformation effect: *students watched clips of car accidents and were then given questions- one of which was a leading question. (different people were given slightly different questions) *the verb 'contacted' resulted in a mean estimate speed of 31.8 mph. *the verb 'smashed' was 40.5 mph.
Child Maltreatment
any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child
Mandated Reporting Laws
anyone having knowledge of child maltreatment MUST report it under penalty of law; over 90% of states designate certain pro's as mandated reporters ex: social workers, childcare workers, teachers, doctors, medical examiners/coroners, mental health pro's
Relative Judgment
comparing lineup members to one another and choosing the one who looks most like the culprit
Absolute Judgment
each member is compared to the witness memory of the culprit; witnesses asked yes or no, if at any point you say yes to recognize someone, then the process is stopped and your confidence statement is taken
System Variables
factors controlled by the justice system that can be changed to increase or decrease eyewitness accuracy; for example Questioning procedure and question wording, Identification line-up construction, Much research deals with system variables
Estimator Variables
factors that are present at the time of the event that cannot be changed and the justice system cannot control. For example Lighting conditions, the presence of a weapon, age of witness, Emotional arousal of witness, Mental state of witness, Race of suspect
Encoding
gathering info and putting it into a form that can be held in memory; step 1 in memorization
Emotional Maltreatment
inattention to a child's emotional needs, failure to provide psychological care, or permitting child to use drugs or alcohol
Recall Memory
intentional bringing to mind of explicit information
Target-Present Lineup
lineup contains the culprit; comparable identification rates for children and adults
Target-Absent Lineup
lineup does not contain culprit; Children produce lower correct rejection rates than adults
Sequential Lineup
lineup members are presented serially to the witness; more conservative, leaving us less likely to choose someone who was guilty but also less likely to falsely identify someone; Children have difficulty
(Child) Abuse
non-accidental infliction of injury, physical, sexual, or emotional
Recognition Memory
occurs when a person matches a newly encoded stimulus to one that has been stored in memory
Suspect
person police "suspect" committed the crime, who may be guilty or not
Physical Abuse
physical acts that caused or could have caused physical injury to the child
Competency Hearing
questions posed to child witnesses under the age 14 to determine if they are competent to testify in court. The must grasp basic-competency (Understanding and answering basic interview questions & Observe and recall pertinent events) and truth-lie competency (Understand the difference between the truth and lie & feel moral obligation to tell the truth on the stand)
Retrieval
refers to accessing and pulling out the stored information at a later time; step 3 in memorization
Recovered Memories
refers to cases in which adults recover memories of having been sexually abused years or even decades earlier
Storage
refers to holding the encoded info in the brain over time; step 2 in memorization
False Memory Syndrome
remembering a past traumatic experience that is objectively false but is nevertheless accepted by the person as true; most prominent example is with sexual abuse as children
Wheeler v. United States (1885)
set a precedent that children under the age of 14 to pass a pretrial competency test before testifying; it was then reversed by the Victims of Child Abuse Act 1990
Cognitive Interview
subtle step-by step procedure designed to relax witnesses and to mentally reinstate the context surrounding the crime, the goal is to improve witnesses retrieval of accurate info while avoiding increased suggestibility that hypnosis has. Reinstating the context, reporting everything, and recalling event in different orders, changing perspectives
Substantiated Maltreatment
the allegations of maltreatment or risk of maltreatment was supported or founded by state law or policy; it has been reported, investigated, and verified
Memory Trace
the biochemical representations of experiences in the brain; perception can be incorrect during encoding or deteriorate over time and/or distort in retrieval
Enhanced Cognitive Interview
the following components were added to the original cognitive interview by Fisher, rapport building, supportive interview behavior, transfer of control, focused retrieval, witness compatible questioning
Culprit
the guilty person who committed the crime
Sexual Abuse
the involvement of a child in sexual activity to provide secual gratification or finicial benefit to the perp, including contacts for sexual purposes, molestation, statutory rape, prostitution, porn, exposure, incest, or other sexually exploitative activities
Weapon Focus Effect
the phenomenon of a witness attention being focused on the culprits weapon rather than on the culprit; explained by the cue-utilization hypothesis and unusualness hypothesis
Verbal Overshadowing
the reduction in recognition memory for faces that often occurs when eyewitnesses provided verbal descriptions of those faces before the recognition-memory test
Unsubstantiated Maltreatment
there was not sufficient evidence under state law to conclude or suspect that the child was maltreated or at-risk of being maltreated; it was reported but not necessarily followed up on
Steblay, Dysart, & Wells (2011)
updated meta-analysis examining 72 studies of simultaneous versus sequential lineups, showed 8% average gap in correct identifications for target-present lineup conditions, these favored simultaneous lineup, and sequential lineups showed average of 22% fewer false identifications in target-absent lineup conditions (more likely to just choose someone). Sequential lineups are more conservative, less false ID but less ID and simultaneous lineups ID more people but have higher rates of false ID.
Unconscious Transference
witness remembers a face but inaccurately attributes it to a different context, for example like in the Buckhout 1974 mock assault
