Moderators of Lineup Administrator Expectancy Effects on Eyewitness Identification Accuracy

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）的人际期望效应在行为研究的证据导致心理学家建议，阵容管理员的嫌疑人的身份的知识可能会在错误的识别中发挥作用，并建议双盲阵容管理。然而，目击者识别任务包含的功能，可能会限制人际期望的影响。当嫌疑人与犯罪者非常相似时，预期效应可能会受到抑制，因为证人会在没有管理员提示的情况下选择嫌疑人;管理员的影响可能只在嫌疑人与犯罪者不太相似时才起作用。同样，证人的记忆力可能会限制行政人员选择嫌疑人的影响力。 当证人的选择标准较低时，例如当存在某些系统变量（有偏见的指示，同时排队呈现）时，这些影响可能更有可能。这项研究操纵了嫌疑人与犯罪者的相似性，记忆强度（不同的保留时间和暴露时间），以及证人在三项模拟目击者识别的研究中从阵容中做出选择的标准（即，参与者目击事件并且随后尝试从照片阵列中进行识别）。 使用数学建模技术，主要研究者检查这些研究的数据是否适合目击者识别决策的WITNESS模型所做的预测。这些研究的智力价值集中在测试管理员期望对目击者准确性的影响的理论约束。这些研究可以证明是变革性的，因为它们可以导致对目击者记忆的主要理论--WITNESS模型--的重大改进。 此外，调查结果有可能产生广泛的影响，因为它们可以告知警方，其中许多人一直抵制实施双盲排队的建议，何时花费资源进行看似更昂贵的程序是最重要的。 他们还将提供信息，协助调查人员、专家证人、法官和陪审团了解目击证人的可靠性。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009(Public Law 111-5)Evidence of interpersonal expectancy effects in behavioral research led psychologists to suggest that lineup administrators' knowledge of a suspect's identity may play a role in mistaken identifications and to recommend double-blind lineup administration. However, the eyewitness identification task contains features that may constrain the influence of interpersonal expectancies. When the suspect closely resembles the perpetrator, expectancy effects may be suppressed because witnesses will choose the suspect without benefit of administrator cues; administrator influence may operate only when the suspect is less similar to the perpetrator. Similarly, the strength of the witness's memory may limit an administrator's influence to choose the suspect. These effects may be more likely when witnesses' criteria for choosing are low such as when certain system variables (biased instructions, simultaneous lineup presentation) are present. This research manipulates the similarity of the suspect to the perpetrator, memory strength (varying retention interval and exposure time), and the witness's criterion for making a choice from the lineup in three studies that simulate an eyewitness identification (i.e., a participant witnesses an event and the subsequently attempts an identification from a photo array). Using mathematical modeling techniques, the principal investigator examines the fit of the data from these studies to predictions made by the WITNESS model of eyewitness identification decision-making. The intellectual merit of these studies focuses on testing theorized constraints of administrator expectancy effects on eyewitness accuracy. The studies could prove transformative in that they could lead to a significant refinement of the leading theory of eyewitness memory, the WITNESS model. Moreover the findings have the potential for broad impact because they could inform police, many of whom have been resisting the recommendation to administer double-blind lineups, about when it is most important to expend resources to conduct seemingly more costly procedures. They will also provide information to assist investigators, expert witnesses, judges, and juries on eyewitness reliability.