ARE YOU CERTAIN? THE RELIABILITY OF EYEWITNESS IDENTIFICATION
ARE YOU CERTAIN? THE RELIABILITY OF EYEWITNESS IDENTIFICATION
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Issue Date
2007
Authors
Hacker, Mandy
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Abstract
Most research regarding this subject has been done by psychologists who have expressed concerns about’ the inaccuracy of eyewitness identification within the criminal justice system. This study seeks to identify the causes of mistaken eyewitness identification. Hypothesis 1 states that eyewitness identification is higher in a police showup and lower in a police lineup. Target-present lineups and showups produced nearly the same results and target-absent results for correct rejection rates were 85% and 57%, respectively. Hypothesis 2 states eyewitness identification is more reliable with increased levels of stress. The study shows that heightened stress has a negative impact on the accuracy of eyewitness identification. Hypothesis 3 states that open-ended questions lead to more inaccurate eyewitness responses than did direct/misleading questions. The data disproved this hypothesis showing more correct responses for category specific question when open-ended questions were asked.