Faculty Publications

Pc_Eyewitness And The Sequential Superiority Effect: Computer-Based Lineup Administration

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Computer, Memory, Methodology, Witnesses

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Law and Human Behavior

Volume

29

Issue

3

First Page

303

Last Page

321

Abstract

Computer technology has become an increasingly important tool for conducting eyewitness identifications. In the area of lineup identifications, computerized administration offers several advantages for researchers and law enforcement. PC_Eyewitness is designed specifically to administer lineups. To assess this new lineup technology, two studies were conducted in order to replicate the results of previous studies comparing simultaneous and sequential lineups. One hundred twenty university students participated in each experiment. Experiment 1 used traditional paper-and-pencil lineup administration methods to compare simultaneous to sequential lineups. Experiment 2 used PC_Eyewitness to administer simultaneous and sequential lineups. The results of these studies were compared to the meta-analytic results reported by N. Steblay, J. Dysart, S. Fulero, and R. C. L. Lindsay (2001). No differences were found between paper-and-pencil and PC_Eyewitness lineup administration methods. The core findings of the N. Steblay et al. (2001) meta-analysis were replicated by both administration procedures. These results show that computerized lineup administration using PC_Eyewitness is an effective means for gathering eyewitness identification data. © 2005 American Psychology-Law Society/Division 41 of the American Psychology Association.

Department

Department of Psychology

Original Publication Date

6-1-2005

DOI of published version

10.1007/s10979-005-3319-5

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