Meta-Analysis of Facial Identification Research: A Reappraisal

这个项目将检查错误的目击者身份作为错误定罪的主要来源。尽管越来越多的心理学家的实证研究提供了对导致错误识别的因素的见解，而且越来越频繁地，心理学家被要求就这些因素提供法庭证词。然而，这样的专家证词经常被批评为不可靠。本项目将在目击者和实验室研究范式中，利用对现有面部识别研究的荟萃分析，研究可靠性和结果泛化的实证问题。特别是，该项目将审查研究结果的强度和可靠性，这些研究结果涉及被认为会影响识别准确性的大量因素，以及研究方法与操纵实质性变量所产生的影响程度之间的关系。需要解决的因素包括参与者和目标的稳定性（例如，性别，种族）和可塑性（例如，压力，伪装），以及情境（例如，暴露时间）和程序（例如，阵容呈现）变量。在荟萃分析中，将仔细关注不同类型的研究特征、自变量及其在研究中使用的操作化。因此，该项目将确定研究结果最有力和最薄弱的研究和理论领域，最重要的是，将检验一系列关于方法和实质性因素的假设，这些因素可以增强或限制研究结果的普遍性和理论含义。

This project will examine mistaken eyewitness identifications as a principal source of erroneous convictions. Although a growing body of empirical research by psychologists provides insights into the factors contributing to mistaken identifications, and with increasing frequency, psychologists are called upon to provide courtroom testimony about those factors. Such expert testimony, however, is often criticized as unreliable. This project will examine the empirical questions of reliability and generalization of findings using a meta-analysis of existing studies of face recognition, in both the eyewitness and laboratory research paradigms. In particular, the project will examine the strength and reliability of research findings concerning a large number of factors thought to influence identification accuracy and the relationships among research methods and the magnitude of effects produced by manipulations of substantive variables. Factors to be addressed include stable (e.g., sex, race) and malleable characteristics (e.g., stress, disguise) of both participants and targets, as well as situational (e.g., exposure duration) and procedural (e.g., lineup presentation) variables. Careful attention will be given in the meta-analysis to the different types of study characteristics, independent variables, and their operationalization employed in the research. The project, as a result, will identify research and theoretical domains where findings are on the strongest and weakest footings and, most importantly, will test a series of hypotheses about methodological and substantive factors that enhance or limit the generalizability and theoretical implications of research results.