Effects of verbalization on lineup face recognition in an interpolated inspection paradigm

Abstract

AbstractWe examined the effects of describing a target face on face memory in a procedure in which subjects either did or did not inspect a single distractor face to determine if it matched the target face before attempting lineup identification of both the target and the distractor. Verbalization did not affect accuracy of identification of the target face; however, it increased accuracy during inspection of the distractor face and improved subsequent lineup identification of the distractor face. The absence of description‐related impairment of memory for the target face (i.e. the failure to find verbal overshadowing), and the fact that verbalization has the potential positive effect of reducing false alarms to the distractor, points to the complex relation between verbalization and memory for faces. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.