The phenomenology of carryover effects between showup and lineup identification

Ryann M. Haw, Big Bend College
Jason J. Dickinson, Monclair State University
Christian A. Meissner, University of Texas at El Paso

Article comments

This is a preprint of an article submitted for consideration in Memory © 2007 [copyright Taylor & Francis]; Memory is available online at: http://www.informaworld.com/

Abstract

This study explored carryover effects from showups to subsequent lineup identifications using a novel paradigm in which participants rendered multiple identification judgments. One-hundred-sixty participants studied a series of faces and subsequently viewed a series of target-absent and target-present showups. Following a retention interval, participants then made identification judgments from a series of target-absent and target-present lineups. Remember-Know-Guess judgments were collected to assess the phenomenological basis of carryover effects in face identification. Our results indicated clear carryover effects from showups to lineups, such that repeated exposure to a face increased the likelihood that it would be later identified, regardless of whether or not it had been presented at the time of study. The phenomenological basis for these carryover effects is discussed, as are the implications of these findings for police conduct of multiple eyewitness identification procedures.