Deception in Eyewitness Identification

Abstract

One-hundred twenty-eight undergraduates were shown a videotape of a staged crime of a young man abducting a child. Participants were instructed to role-play eyewitness behaviors in which they (a) lied to protect the perpetrator; (b) lied to protect the perpetrator but told the truth about the child; (c) lied to ensure the conviction of the perpetrator; or (d) responded truthfully and accurately to the best of their ability. One week later, participants were given a target-present or target-absent photo lineup of both the perpetrator and the child-victim. Participants instructed to lie to protect the perpetrator consistently stated he was not present as opposed to selecting an innocent person. In addition, participants lying to protect the perpetrator were significantly quicker to make identification decisions than participants attempting to make an accurate identification. There were no significant differences between groups in identification performance or in decision times involving the child lineup.