The identification procedure can greatly affect eyewitness performance, but this may be contingent upon a relatively weak memory for the perpetrator. In a large preregistered experiment (N = 13,728), we manipulated memory strength and tested participants with a target-present or -absent showup or lineup (size 3 or 6). All fillers were…

Nahari, Vrij, and Fischer [(2014b), "Applied Cognitive Psychology," 28, 122-128] found that, when participants were forewarned that their statements would be checked for verifiable details, truth tellers gave much more verifiable details than liars. In this direct replication (n = 72), participants wrote a statement claiming they had…

This meta-analytic review examines the most fundamental question for disclosing evidence during suspect interviews: What are the effective options for when to disclose the available evidence? We provide an update to Hartwig and colleagues (2014) meta-analysis of the efficacy of the late and early disclosure methods on eliciting statement-evidence…

The present research examined lie detection abilities of a rarely investigated group, namely offenders. Results of the studies conducted thus far indicated a better performance of offenders compared to non-offenders when discriminating between true and false messages. With two new studies, we aimed at replicating offenders' superior abilities in…

Most eyewitness identification research simulates single perpetrator crimes, but real-world crimes often transpire at the hands of multiple perpetrators. It is unclear how multiple perpetrators might impact the ability of eyewitnesses to discriminate between the guilty and innocent. To address this issue, we conducted two experiments in which…

People do not constantly watch for accidents and crimes. With their attention focused elsewhere, potential witnesses may fail to notice a crime and experience inattentional blindness. We investigated the impact of inattentional blindness on eyewitness awareness and memory. Participants watched a video in which a theft occurs. We manipulated the…

We examined the effects of acute alcohol on eyewitness memory for a simulated armed robbery under laboratory conditions. Alcohol and placebo participants viewed a slide series showing a target male taking a laptop from a helpdesk assistant, either on loan or at gunpoint. Following a brief retention period, participants responded to…

According to the Diagnostic Feature-Detection (DFD) hypothesis, the presence of fillers that match the eyewitness's description of the perpetrator will boost discriminability beyond a showup, and very few fillers may suffice to produce the advantage. We tested this hypothesis by comparing showups with simultaneous lineups of size 3, 6, 9, and 12.…

This experiment was designed to examine how viewing conditions could affect witnesses' vulnerability to suggestive influence. It was predicted that when the encoding conditions were stronger, accurate witnesses would be less likely to shift their decisions when prompted to reexamine the lineup, and that confirming feedback would effectively…

Wrongful conviction statistics suggest that jurors pay little heed to the quality of confession evidence when making verdict decisions. However, recent research indicates that confession inconsistencies may sometimes reduce perception of suspect guilt. Drawing on theoretical frameworks of attribution theory, correspondence bias, and the story…

The distance from which an eyewitness views a perpetrator is a critical factor for eyewitness identification, but has received little research attention. We presented three mock-crime videos to participants, varying distance to three perpetrators (3, 10, or 20 m). Across two experiments, increased distance reduced empirical discriminability in the…

Post-conviction polygraph testing during sex offender (PCSOT) treatment is common. Ocular-motor deception testing (ODT) uses measures of cognitive load to assess credibility. The accuracy of ODT for discriminating deceptive from truthful response patterns in sexually violent persons was evaluated. Participants chose to 'steal' a voucher of…

Eyewitnesses often create face likenesses, which are published in the hope that potential suspects will be reported to the police. Witnesses exposed to another witness's composite, however, may be positively or negatively influenced by such composites. A good likeness may facilitate identification, but a bad likeness that resembles an innocent…

Presenting a blank line-up--containing only fillers--to witnesses prior to showing a real line-up might be useful for screening out those who pick from the blank line-up as unreliable witnesses. We show that the effectiveness of this procedure varies depending on instructions given to witnesses. Participants (N = 462) viewed a simulated crime and…

Eyewitness researchers recommend that "not present" and "don't know" response options should be presented with police lineups. Although it is important that witnesses--most of whom are unlikely to be familiar with the identification task--are fully cognizant of all response options available to them, an understanding of how…