NCJ Number
186845
Journal
Law and Human Behavior Volume: 24 Issue: 6 Dated: December 2000 Pages: 685-697
Date Published
December 2000
Length
13 pages
Annotation
A study that tested undergraduate participants in British Columbia in 144 pairs examined the perceptions of witnesses’ accuracy and the relationship between witnesses’ confidence and their accuracy.
Abstract
The study randomly assigned one member of each pair to a witness role and the other to an investigator role. Each witness viewed a target person on videotape under good or poor witnessing conditions. The investigator then interviewed the witness, administered a photo lineup, and rated confidence in the witness. The witnesses also separately related their own confidence. Results revealed that investigators distinguished between accurate and inaccurate witnesses, but they did so less well than witnesses’ own confidence ratings and were biased toward accepting witnesses’ decisions. Moreover, investigators’ confidence made no unique contribution to the prediction of witness accuracy. Witnessing conditions influenced witnesses’ confidence and accuracy in the same direction. In addition, a substantial confidence-accuracy correlation existed when data were collapsed across witnessing conditions. Findings indicated that confidence can be strongly indicative of accuracy when witnessing conditions vary widely and that witnesses’ confidence may be a better indicator than is investigators’ confidence. Tables, footnotes, and 17 references (Author abstract modified)