The confidence-accuracy relationship in eyewitness identification: the effects of reflection and disconfirmation on correlation and calibration.

Full Abstract

Participants viewed a simulated crime and attempted an identification from an 8-person target-present or target-absent lineup. The authors examined identification confidence-accuracy relations, contrasting a control condition (n = 310) with 2 manipulations designed to improve confidence scaling. Before indicating confidence, participants reflected on encoding and identification test conditions (n = 316) or suggested hypotheses about why their identification decision might have been wrong (n = 318). Confidence-accuracy correlations were weak and did not differ across conditions. However, for positive identifications, confidence and accuracy were well calibrated in the experimental conditions, although not in the control condition; similar patterns were observed for lineup rejections. Explanations for calibration differences in terms of discrimination difficulty, (mis)match between encoding and test stimuli, and the availability of confidence cues were advanced.

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Author information

Author/s: Brewer, Neil (N); Keast, Amber (A); Rishworth, Amanda (A);

Affiliation: School of Psychology, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia. neil.brewer(-atsign-)flinders.edu.au

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of experimental psychology. Applied (J Exp Psychol Appl), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Mar; vol 8 (issue 1) : pp 44-56

Dates: Created 2002/05/14; Completed 2002/06/18; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12009176, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent
Adult
Criminal Law
Female
Humans
Individuality
Male

Male
Mental Recall - physiology
Middle Aged
Pattern Recognition, Visual - physiology
Practice (Psychology)
Recognition (Psychology) - physiology
Self Assessment (Psychology)

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