Summary to be provided by Steve
Lineup Composition, Suspect Position, and the Sequential Lineup Advantage
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Summary to be provided by Steve
TrackBack URL: http://www.psychologicalscience.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-t.cgi/210
As with many of the issues in any academic field or any social or political situation within our species, the debate within the eyewitness identification literature between sequential vs. simultaneous advantages and disadvantages seem likely the result of the perceived necessity to take a side. Perhaps a more logical strategy is to admit that both have their strengths and weaknesses, but also that these vary depending on the specific situation. For example, in this article the authors present evidence suggesting that the sequential lineup may be beneficial for reducing or minimizing false identification rates, yet this may only be for biased lineups. Similarly, lest we forget, the sequential superiority effect comes with a not so impressive correct identification reduction (get the joke top chef fans?). Additionally the procedures used to evaluate lineups during and after the construction phase will naturally lead to somewhat different estimates of bias or effective size. Perhaps adhering to the use of one particular measure may depend on the underlying assumptions from which you are basing your hypotheses, but also it could just be due to a preference , or a tendency to follow a certain previously established researcher down the same paths that rely on that measure to the extent that their judgment of the potential efficacy of other measures is obscured by the clouds of conformity, occluding their own judgment processes in all those instances in which quick decisions are made without taking the exact conditions surrounding the current situation into account. Likely, the debate will continue to rage on. Of the utmost importance, however, is that regardless of who “wins” or which side the data tends to favor, the implications for policy and procedures in lineup construction should not be sacrificed or hastily modified or discounted. Having any policy in existence is essential, but it is also realistic to strive toward processes which will eventually create the best procedures and policies rooted in empirical data.
djp
Lineup construction is an important topic. It is just as important as lineup administration, maybe even more so than lineup administration. If the foils used in the lineup are very poorly chosen, even the administration of the lineup cannot undo that damage. Mock lineup evaluations show the importance of lineup construction. If mock witnesses choose the suspect a lot more than other foils, then it shows that the lineup is biased. I think that this issue is very important to discuss and for training to be provided to police officers on this issue. A criminal case can be made or potentially hindered if a police officer puts together a poorly constructed lineup. Basically, there is no way to undue that type of mistake after it has already occurred.
The articles cover the topic very well. I personally like the Carlson, Gronlund, and Clark (2008) article because this was one of the articles that I looked at for my topic of lineup administration. Their finding that lineup composition and the position of the suspect affects the sequential lineup advantage is interesting, and Clark and Davey (2005) also found similar results. They found that strong competitors for the target affected the identification accuracy, as well as where the suspect was positioned in the lineup. I believe that when the “next-best alternative” was in position 2, participants identified this individual more in the sequential lineup, but they had not seen the target yet. I think these results overall show the importance of constructing a fair lineup. Roy Malpass and colleagues’ paper was also good because it went through a lot of the issues surrounding lineup construction, as well as mock witness information.
I just can’t get past the idea of police officers not setting up a lineup without bias. I know it is sometimes difficult for police officers to make a lineup that is not prejudicial to the suspect because of department issues. However, I think the research shows that this issue needs to be addressed by police departments or the potential exists for the identification to be thrown out at trial, which further jeopardizes the case for the prosecution.
HC