NCJ Number
101814
Journal
Journal of Applied Social Psychology Volume: 16 Issue: 4 Dated: (1986) Pages: 287-302
Date Published
1986
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study investigated the effect of question content on child and adult eyewitness performance, and the accuracy and reliability of suspect photo identification were examined as a function of witness' age.
Abstract
Subjects were 48 college students (median age 24 years) and 48 elementary school children (median age 8 years). Males and females were equally represented in each group. All subjects saw a 15-slide sequence of a simulated crime, with each slide displayed for 5 seconds. Subjects were not informed they would later be tested on retention. Half of the subjects from each age group viewed slides in which a child was the offender, and half viewed slides in which an adult was the offender. Each offender was presented in frontal view for three slides and in rear view for one. Immediately after the slide sequence, all subjects were asked to identify offenders from a photographic lineup of five foils and the target. Subjects then answered 10 multiple-choice questions, of which 4 were about offender physical characteristics, 5 were about peripheral events, and 1 was misleading. All questions were presented with four alternative answers. A second photographic lineup with the same foils and target, but in different positions, was then administered to all subjects. Adults answered offender descriptive questions better than peripheral questions; children were equally accurate on both question types. Children and adults were equally accurate in photo identification, but children were less stable in their choices from test to retest. There was no evidence of an interaction of witness' age with offender's age in photo identification. Tabular and graphic data and 36 references.