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A field evaluation of the VIPER system: A new technique for eliciting eyewitness identification evidence
Psychology, Crime and Law
Abstract and Figures
Advances in technology have led to a new system for gathering facial identification evidence from eyewitnesses with accompanying changes in legislation in the UK. The current paper presents the responses of 1718 real witnesses and victims who attempted an identification from a video parade in Scotland in 2008. The witnesses comprised a large subset who were classified as 'vulnerable' due to their age, ability or the nature of the incident. Suspect identifications averaged 44%, a figure comparable to the rate reported in other field studies conducted in the UK. The foil identification rate at 42% is higher than other field data. The paper discusses the effects of witness age, vulnerability, perceived emotional state, crime type, delay and procedural aspects of the video procedure on suspect identifications.
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... Through their experiences, the police may have their own ideas of how identification procedures can be improved. For example, findings from field studies have shown that, on average, suspects are only identified from police video line-ups 40% of the time (Horry et al., 2013;Memon et al., 2011), meaning that the modal line-up does not produce an identification. In addition, field studies have reported that delays between witnessing an event and seeing a line-up can significantly impact upon identification, with longer delays leading to fewer suspect identifications (Horry et al., 2013;Memon et al., 2011), an issue that is likely to be apparent to a practitioner. ...
... For example, findings from field studies have shown that, on average, suspects are only identified from police video line-ups 40% of the time (Horry et al., 2013;Memon et al., 2011), meaning that the modal line-up does not produce an identification. In addition, field studies have reported that delays between witnessing an event and seeing a line-up can significantly impact upon identification, with longer delays leading to fewer suspect identifications (Horry et al., 2013;Memon et al., 2011), an issue that is likely to be apparent to a practitioner. Gaining the views of practitioners about what the problems with identification procedures might be is useful in its own right but may also highlight issues with the translation of research evidence if the suggestions of practitioners are different to those of researchers. ...
Research has undoubtedly led to a number of important changes to the way police obtain eyewitness identification evidence in a number of countries. However, despite these successes and the significant effort made by researchers to communicate key findings to public agencies, policy-makers and influential law enforcement personnel using a broad range of evidence, relevant policy and practice have either been very slow to respond or have not changed to incorporate the suggestions at all. In this article we employed an online survey to explore the knowledge and opinions of front-line policing practitioners in the UK regarding eyewitness research and practice. This was undertaken to determine how familiar less-senior, operational staff were with key research findings, what their opinions of current practice were and crucially, their views on how identification procedures should be improved compared with the recommendations made by researchers. The results revealed a fundamental mismatch between research and practice, with practitioners indicating a need to increase the rate of positive identifications and research tending to focus on methods of reducing false identifications. This result suggests that an approach driven by the need for the police to produce convictions may be an important factor that is blocking the translation of eyewitness identification research into practice.
... AYDIN, Y. AR 132 characteristics (race, gender, hair color, etc.) [29]. The VIPER (Video Identification Parade Electronic Recording) system used in the United Kingdom is also a filler database based on the match-to-description approach [31]. ...
Eyewitness misidentifications are one of the leading factors in wrongful convictions. This study focuses on the structure of the lineups, which is one of the factors that cause misidentification, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in the selection of fillers to be included in the lineups. In the study, AI-based face recognition systems are used to determine the level of similarity of fillers to the suspect. Using two different face recognition models with a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) structure, similarity threshold values close to human performance were calculated (VGG Face and Cosine similarity = 0.383, FaceNet and Euclidean l2 = 1.16). In the second part of the study, the problems that are likely to be caused by facial recognition systems used in the selection of fillers are examined. The results of the study reveal that models responsible for facial recognition may not suffice alone in the selection of fillers and, an advanced structure using CNN models trained to recognize other attributes (race, gender, age, etc.) associated with similarity along with face recognition models would produce more accurate results. In the last part of the study, a Line-up application that can analyze attributes such as facial similarity, race, gender, age, and facial expression, is introduced.
... Children's ability to act as a reliable eyewitness has long been an area of scientific debate. It is estimated that around a third of witnesses are children (Memon et al., 2011), and it is therefore imperative that we understand the factors underlying reliable eyewitness identification in children. One consistent finding from the eyewitness literature is that children are as accurate as adults when identifying a suspect on a target-present (TP) lineup from five years of age (Pozzulo & Lindsay, 1998), with only some studies reporting age-related improvements on TP lineups (Fitzgerald & Price, 2015;Keast et al., 2007). ...
Child eyewitnesses show a high false identification rate on target-absent (TA) lineups despite good performance on target-present (TP) lineups. One explanation is that children feel a social pressure to choose when presented with a TA lineup. We investigated whether experimenter familiarity would reduce social pressure and improve accuracy on TA lineups. Children (5–7 years, N = 120) watched a short video of a staged theft; 1–2 days later they completed a TP or TA lineup with a familiar or unfamiliar experimenter. Experimenter familiarity had an impact on lineup response in TA lineups only, with more correct ‘not there’ and fewer ‘not sure’ responses when the children were familiar with the experimenter. The results provide further evidence to support the social aspect of eyewitness identification decisions in children and provide a possible strategy to improve identification accuracy for those working with children in the criminal justice system.
... When researchers have tackled the issue of whether victims and bystander identification decisions differ, they have rarely isolated variation in role from other variables. Analyses of police records sometimes show that crime victims identify more suspects than do bystander witnesses (Tollestrup et al., 1994), bystanders identify more suspects than victims (Memon et al., 2011), and sometimes show no differences (Behrman & Davey, 2001;Valentine et al., 2003). It is difficult to draw any conclusions from these archival studies because it is unclear what proportion of the identifications of suspects were correct or mistaken. ...
Much of the literature on eyewitness identification neglects the social context in which identifications are made. As the number of cognitive psychologists conducting eyewitness research increased so did the use of signal detection theory and ROC analyses. With the resulting need for larger sample size, researchers moved toward conducting studies on internet platforms that allow for crowd-sourcing research participants. These methods make it next to impossible to ask research questions that explore the ways in which social interactions influence the identifications made by witnesses. Yet, the possibility of social context effects on witness memory are prevalent in applied contexts and research supports their existence. In addition, some eyewitness identifications may not be governed by memory at all. We argue that a consideration of social context effects is required to fully explore the reliability of witness identifications and propose a number of avenues for future research.
... The results support previous eyewitness research showing that mugshot exposure (Deffenbacher et al., 2006) and street identifications (Valentine et al., 2012;Davis et al., 2015) can bias subsequent identification accuracy, as seeing a lookalike on social media in the present study resulted in a greater proportion of errors in subsequent TP lineups. However, the finding that seeing a lookalike on social media reduces correct identification by over 30% is dramatic compared to other studies (Memon et al., 2011). Unlike some previous research (e.g., Davis et al., 2014), that has found composite construction leads to a higher rate of correct identifications compared to a control, our results were more similar to the majority of composite research (Pike G. E. et al., 2019;Tredoux et al., 2020) in finding no significant improvement in correct identifications between the Culprit and Control conditions. ...
Eyewitnesses to crimes sometimes search for a culprit on social media before viewing a police lineup, but it is not known whether this affects subsequent lineup identification accuracy. The present online study was conducted to address this. Two hundred and eighty-five participants viewed a mock crime video, and after a 15–20 min delay either (i) viewed a mock social media site including the culprit, (ii) viewed a mock social media site including a lookalike, or (iii) completed a filler task. A week later, participants made an identification from a photo lineup. It was predicted that searching for a culprit on social media containing the lookalike (rather than the culprit) would reduce lineup identification accuracy. There was a significant association between social media exposure and lineup accuracy for the Target Present lineup (30% more of the participants who saw the lookalike on social media failed to positively identify the culprit than participants in the other conditions), but for the Target Absent lineup (which also included the lookalike) there was no significant association with lineup identification accuracy. The results suggest that if an eyewitness sees a lookalike (where they are expecting to see the culprit) when conducting a self-directed search on social media, they are less likely to subsequently identify the culprit in the formal ID procedure.
Este Manual foi desenvolvido como parte da Formação Inicial em Entrevista Investigativa (FiTE), oferecido pelo Labo- ratório de Ensino e Pesquisa em Cognição e Justiça (CogJus), em uma parceria entre o Centro de Direitos Humanos da No- ruega e a Fundação Imed. Buscamos apresentar aqui, de ma- neira didática, os principais componentes da Entrevista Inves- tigativa. Nesse sentido, optamos por utilizar uma linguagem menos acadêmica, embora as referências para os argumen- tos de cada seção possam ser encontradas ao final delas. Este Manual foi projetado como um guia inicial, objetivando auxiliar professores e alunos a melhor conhecerem a Entrevista In- vestigativa. Portanto, não possui foco para um tipo específico de crime (e.g., homicídio, violência sexual, estelionato, dentre outros). De fato, as bases aqui apresentadas se aplicam a to- das as situações de investigação nas quais se busca obter in- formações de forma efetiva a partir da lembrança de pessoas, sejam testemunhas, vítimas ou suspeitos.
Now that developmental factors related to memory are understood, the capability of children as witnesses can be discussed. This section will assess children’s capability as witnesses by exploring everyday conversations with children, children’s responses to questions concerning forensically relevant material, and children’s ability to recall descriptors about suspects they may have witnessed.KeywordsChild witnessesEyewitness testimonyMemorySuggestibilityDescribingIdentifyingLineupsSexual touchingClosed-ended questions
Most eyewitness research focuses on stranger identifications, despite the fact that eyewitnesses may also be asked to identify a familiar person. The current study examined the role of eyewitness-perpetrator familiarity and line-up procedure on adolescent eyewitness identification accuracy. Familiarity was manipulated wherein participants (N = 623) directly interacted, indirectly interacted, or did not meet a confederate before viewing the confederate commit a mock crime. Lineup procedure (simultaneous, sequential, elimination-plus) and target presence were manipulated. Familiarity increased the likelihood of correct identifications in target-present lineups when the sequential lineup procedure was used, whereas familiarity increased the likelihood of correct rejections in target-absent lineups when the simultaneous or elimination-plus procedures were used. These findings suggest that familiarity with a perpetrator can influence identification accuracy.
The current study examined the influence of testimonial aids (e.g., testifying behind a screen), in combination with victim-defendant familiarity, and victim age, on mock jurors’ judgments in a sexual offence case. The sample included undergraduate mock jurors (N = 256) who read a trial summary and answered questions regarding their perception of defendant guilt and defendant and victim credibility. Mock jurors were impacted by the use of testimonial aids, such that they were more likely to render a guilty verdict and assign higher guilt ratings to the defendant, as well as perceive the victim more positively when a testimonial aid was used compared with testifying live in court. The use of a testimonial aid also interacted with victim-defendant familiarity, such that mock jurors rated the defendant as more guilty when a testimonial aid was used and the defendant was described as a stranger, compared with a familiar family member. The use of testimonial accommodations, in combination with other extralegal factors, impacts mock jurors’ judgments.
Proposes a distinction between 2 types of applied eyewitness-testimony research: System-variable (SV) research investigates varibles that are manipulable in actual criminal cases (e.g., the structure of a lineup) and, thus, has the potential for reducing the inaccuracies of eyewitnesses; estimator-variable (EV) research, however, investigates variables that cannot be controlled in actual criminal cases (e.g., characteristics of the witness) and, thus, can only be used in the courtroom to augment or discount the credibility of eyewitnesses. SVs and EVs are contrasted with respect to their relative potential for positive contribution to criminal justice, and it is concluded that SV research may prove more fruitful than EV research. It is also argued that several methodological biases may be exacerbating the rate of misidentifications in staged-crime paradigms. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).
Thefts were staged for 252 eyewitnesses using seven different confederate thieves. Photospreads were constructed for each eyewitness to test a proposal regarding strategies for selecting lineup distractors (C. A. E. Luus & G. L. Wells, 1991). Distractors were selected to resemble a suspect or to match the eyewitness's description of the culprit. A mismatch-description strategy was included for comparison and contrast with the other two strategies. The match-description strategy produced both a low false-identification rate and a high accurate-identification rate. The mismatch-description strategy was unable to hold down false-identification rates, and the resemble-suspect strategy failed to secure acceptable rates of accurate identification. The match-description strategy captures the best features of the mismatch-description and resemble-suspect strategies without also capturing their worst features.
Young adults (16–30 years) and old adults (64–86 years) (N=96) viewed a staged videotaped crime event involving a young and old perpetrator. Prior to viewing either target present (TP) or target absent (TA) line-ups, half the participants received context reinstatement photographs. For the young line-up a significant effect of age group was found with old participants demonstrating poorer performance. However, on the old line-up there was no significant effect of age group. Importantly, a significant beneficial effect of context reinstating photographs existed for participants viewing the old TA line-up. An own-age bias did not exist for either age group in terms of accuracy but young participants were significantly more likely to choose a line-up member from the old line-ups compared to the young line-ups. It was concluded that given certain circumstances it may be possible for old adults to perform at an equivalent level to young adults.
From the limited literature on older witnesses’ identification performance it is known that they are less accurate on lineups compared to younger witnesses. What is less certain is why they show this age deficit and what can be done to aid their performance. Witnesses forgot being given non-biased lineup instructions informing witnesses that the perpetrator may or may not be present. More older witnesses than younger witnesses forgot and witnesses who failed to report remembering these instructions were significantly less accurate on the lineups. In addition, the current study investigated the use of sequential lineup presentation and stringent decision criteria to aid the performance of older witnesses. Sequential presentation was beneficial to both younger and older adults when the lineup was target absent (TA) but was detrimental when the lineup was target present (TP). Stringent decision criteria had no significant beneficial effect. Future directions for aiding older witnesses’ performance are discussed.
Investigated the effectiveness of sequential lineup presentation as a means of reducing false identifications with little or no loss in accurate identifications. A crime was staged for 240 unsuspecting eyewitnesses (undergraduates) either individually or in pairs. One-fourth of the Ss attempted identifications in each of 4 lineup conditions: 6 pictures were presented either simultaneously, as used in traditional procedures, or sequentially, in which yes/no judgments were made for each picture; each procedure either contained the photograph of the criminal–confederate or a picture of a similar looking replacement. Results indicate that sequential lineup presentation significantly reduced false identifications but did not significantly influence correct identifications when compared with a simultaneous procedure. It is concluded that sequential presentation of lineups can reduce false identifications of innocent suspects by reducing eyewitnesses' reliance on relative-judgment processes. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Adult Eyewitness Testimony: Current Trends and Developments provides an overview of empirical research on eyewitness testimony and identification accuracy, covering both theory and application. The volume is organized to address three important issues. First, what are the cognitive, social and physical factors that influence the accuracy of eyewitness reports? Second, how should lineups be constructed and verbal testimony be taken to improve the chances of obtaining accurate information? And third, whose testimony should be believed? Are there differences between accurate and inaccurate witnesses, and can jurors make such a distinction? Adult Eyewitness Testimony: Current Trends and Developments is crucial reading for memory researchers, as well as police officers, judges, lawyers and other members of the judicial system.
SUMMARY Mistaken eyewitness identification is a major source of miscarriages of justice. In England and Wales, procedures for obtaining identification evidence are set out in legislation. The vast majority of identifications are obtained using a traditional 'live' identity parade (or line-up). However, in some circumstances video identifications are being used more frequently. Records of line-ups and video identifications used in actual criminal cases were obtained. The fairness of these two procedures was compared by use of a mock witness procedure. In a perfectly fair line-up the suspect would be chosen, by chance, by 11% of the mock witnesses. However, 25% of mock witnesses selected the suspect from 25 photographs of live line-ups, compared to 15% of mock witnesses who selected the suspect from video identifications. An analysis of covariance, taking the number of visual features mentioned in the original witness's first description as the covariate, showed that the proportion choosing the suspect was significantly smaller from video identifications. It is concluded that the video line-ups were fairer than the live line-ups, and therefore that wider use of video identifications has the potential to improve the reliability of eyewitness identification evidence. Copyright # 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The study examined possible methods for improving the performance of older eyewitnesses on identification line-ups. Young and old adults viewed a simulated crime event involving a young and old perpetrator, and were subsequently asked to identify these two perpetrators from line-ups that were either target present (TP) or target absent (TA). Research conducted by the present authors indicates that older adults have significant problems with remembering instructions informing them that the perpetrator may or may not be present in the line-up and this may contribute to the age deficit in line-up performance. Therefore, in the present study, prior to the line-ups, half the participants received enhanced non-biased line-up instructions. Furthermore, the performance age deficit demonstrated by older adults in previous relevant studies is largely characterised by an increase in false identifications. The sequential line-up is known to reduce false identifications. Therefore, half the participants viewed line-ups that were presented sequentially and half viewed line-ups that were presented simultaneously. Older participants were found overall to demonstrate poorer line-up performance compared to younger participants. Though enhanced line-up instructions led to significantly better memory concerning the possibility the perpetrator may or may not be present in the line-up, they had no significant effect on line-up performance. Line-up presentation (sequential vs. simultaneous) had differential effects across conditions, with sequential presentation not always being beneficial.