Descriptive Eyewitness Testimony: The Influence of Emotionality, Racial Identification, Question Style, and Selective Perception

Abstract

A number of studies on cross-racial identifications have been undertaken using standard facial recognition paradigms, but modest attention has been paid to the effect of cross-racial identifications in juxtaposition with other influencing factors. The present article examines the impact of race in conjunction with emotionality and question-related variables on descriptive eyewitness recall accuracy. Findings from a controlled experiment (staged crime) with a total of 106 participants from a Midwestem university suggest that descriptive eyewitness recall was influenced by the examined variables-emotionality, race, and type of question asked. Moreover, it was found that eyewitnesses tended to pay more attention to weapons and vehicles during a mock scenario than to perpetrator behavior, perpetrator description, and other information surrounding the event. The results add further evidence to the bulk of literature suggesting that the current usage of eyewitness testimony by the legal system is far from ideal. It is suggested that the high emphasis currently placed on eyewitness accounts be reviewed and reconsidered. Systemic implications of the results are also addressed.