Relative judgment theory and the mediation of facial recognition: Implications for theories of eyewitness identification.

Ryan M Mcadoo,Scott D Gronlund

doi:10.1186/s41235-016-0014-7

Ryan M Mcadoo, Scott D Gronlund

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-016-0014-7

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Abstract

Many in the eyewitness identification community believe that sequential lineups are superior to simultaneous lineups because simultaneous lineups encourage inappropriate choosing due to promoting comparisons among choices (a relative judgment strategy), but sequential lineups reduce this propensity by inducing comparisons of lineup members directly to memory rather than to each other (an absolute judgment strategy). Different versions of the relative judgment theory have implicated both discrete-state and continuous mediation of eyewitness decisions. The theory has never been formally specified, but (Yonelinas, J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 20:1341–1354, 1994) dual-process models provide one possible specification, thereby allowing us to evaluate how eyewitness decisions are mediated. We utilized a ranking task (Kellen and Klauer, J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 40:1795–1804, 2014) and found evidence for continuous mediation when facial stimuli match from study to test (Experiment 1) and when they mismatch (Experiment 2). This evidence, which is contrary to a version of relative judgment theory that has gained a lot of traction in the legal community, compels reassessment of the role that guessing plays in eyewitness identification. Future research should continue to test formal explanations in order to advance theory, expedite the development of new procedures that can enhance the reliability of eyewitness evidence, and to facilitate the exploration of task factors and emergent strategies that might influence when recognition is continuously or discretely mediated.

Highlights

Faulty eyewitness identification (ID) has contributed to the wrongful conviction of hundreds of innocent men and women, playing a role in 72 % of DNA exoneration cases litigated by the Innocence Project (Innocence Project 2015)
The goal of this paper is to elucidate how eyewitness memory is mediated through the exploration of formal conceptualizations of recognition memory and, as a result, be better equipped to evaluate theories such as the relative judgment theory advocated by Wells and colleagues
We focus on signal detection theory (SDT; Green & Swets 1966; Macmillan & Creelman 2005) as an exemplar of this class

Summary

Introduction

Faulty eyewitness identification (ID) has contributed to the wrongful conviction of hundreds of innocent men and women, playing a role in 72 % of DNA exoneration cases litigated by the Innocence Project (Innocence Project 2015). Eyewitnesses view an array of (typically, six) faces presented all at once and are tasked with identifying who they believe to be the suspect. Faces are presented one at a time and eyewitnesses are asked to either identify the face as the suspect and terminate the lineup or reject the face and view the face in the sequence. This continues until the suspect is identified or all faces are rejected

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