Abstract
SummaryIt is well established that children (as young as 5 years) can correctly identify a target from a target present (TP) line‐up as accurately as adults; however, when shown a target absent (TA) line‐up, children make more false identifications. In the present study, children aged 5–7 and 8–11 years viewed a film of a staged theft, then 1–2 days later were shown either a TP or TA video line‐up. Half of the witnesses viewed line‐ups that included a ‘mystery man’ (a black silhouette with a white question mark), which they could select if they did not recognise anyone from the line‐up. When the ‘mystery man’ was present in the line‐up, there were significantly fewer false identifications for the TA line‐ups. This study shows that including a silhouette in a video line‐up can help reduce false identifications for children as young as 5 years of age, without reducing correct identifications. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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