pozzulo et al. (line-ups) Flashcards
what was the aim of the study?
To investigate how age and lineup procedure type affect eyewitness identification accuracy in children
specifically comparing elimination lineups versus simultaneous lineups
what was the motive of the study?
Elimination lineups are designed to reduce false identifications by using a two-step process:
1.Choose the person who looks most like the culprit.
2.Decide if that person actually is the culprit or not.
- children are more prone to false positives in eyewitness lineups
what research method and experimental design were used?
research method: laboratory experiment
experimental design: independent measures
what were the IVs (2) and the DV?
IVs:
1. age group (children vs adults)
2. target type (cartoon character or human face)
3. lineup type (target-present vs target-absent)
DV:
1. correct identifications
2. correct rejections (in target-absent lineups)
describe the sample
59 children: M- 38, F- 21
aged 4-7years old (mean age = 4.98)
Location: Canadian schools.
53 adults: M- 17, F- 36
aged 17-30 years old (mean age = 20.54)
selected from the introductory psychology participant pool of the eastern ontario university)
phase 1: lineup instructions:
- before each lineup participants were informed that the target from each video may not be present
- children: either point at the photo of the target if they saw them or at the silhouette if they didn’t see them
- adults: mark down on a matching sheet of paper
explain phase 2: watching video clips
- Both age groups were shown a series of four six-second video clips. Two of the video clips featured Caucasian university students (one male and one female) completing everyday tasks, such as brushing hair or putting on a coat. The other two clips featured the cartoon characters Dora the Explorer and Go Diego Go engaged in similar mundane activities.
- each video- 2/3 second close-up shot of th targets’ face
explain phase 3: filler task
- After each video, participants were asked to recall details about the character they had just seen, such as “What did the cartoon character/person look like?
- allowed time to pass between the vid exposure and lineup presentation
- children answering verbally and adults wrote their answers down
explain phase 4
- participants were shown a lineup of six photos on a laptop screen
- then asked to identify the character they had seen in the video clip, if present, or to indicate if the target was absent.
- all six individuals were presented at the same time
explain the difference between target-present and target-absent lineups
- target present: one photo showed the actual target while five showed carefully selected foils
- target absent: Target-absent lineups contained six foils.
explain how foils were selected for human lineups
- they needed to match the target’s general facial structure, hair length, and color
- elimination of confounding variables: all photos were cropped to show only the face, neck, and upper shoulders.
how were foils selected for cartoon lineups
- foils were specifically chosen to focus on facial features while minimizing the influence of clothing or background details.
what were the correct identification rates for human AND cartoon faces?
- human faces:
children: 0.23
adults: 0.66 - cartoon faces:
children: 0.99
adults: 0.95
what were the correct rejection rates for human AND cartoon faces?
- human faces:
children: 0.45
adults: 0.70 - cartoon faces:
children: 0.74
adults: 0.94
name two strengths of the study
- standardization: lab experiment, same videos, same sequences, same clip duration
- carefully selected foils
name two weaknesses of the study
- Low ecological validity (watching a video is not as emotionally intense as witnessing a real crime)
- ## Limited generalisability to other age groups and real-world scenarios (only kids from canada, specific cultural and educational background)
what ethical guidelines were followed?
- Informed parental consent.
- Minimal deception.
- Right to withdraw was explained.
what are some real-world applications of the results?
- Recommended that elimination lineups be used in police procedures when interviewing child eyewitnesses.
- Improves the legal system’s accuracy and fairness in handling children’s testimony.
- Helps reduce false convictions and misidentifications
what are some qualitative findings from this study?
- participant description of everything they remembered from a video
- open-ended question: “What did the cartoon character/person look like?”
