Showup identifications: the effects of presence of stolen property and suspect’s denial on identification performance
Date
2011-04-01
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Abstract
A showup identification is the presentation of a single suspect to an eyewitness. I used a
simulated theft paradigm and subsequent showup identification to examine the effects of stolen
property, suspects’ verbal behaviour, and target-presence on eyewitness identification
performance. I used a 2 (suspect: innocent, guilty) X 2 (stolen property: present, hidden) X 3
(verbal behaviour: denial with explanation, denial, silence) between-subjects factorial design.
Binary logistic regression analysis indicated that both the target and stolen property,
independently, and significantly predicted the accuracy of identification decisions. Surprisingly,
the presence of stolen property facilitated more accurate identification decisions from
eyewitnesses.
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Keywords
Showups, Eyewitness identification, System variables, Context effect, Verbal behaviour