Two Eyewitnesses are More Persuasive Than One Except When They Remember a Suspect's Feature

Publication date: Available online 22 January 2019Source: Journal of Applied Research in Memory and CognitionAuthor(s): Crystal R. Slane, Chad S. DodsonAre jurors more likely to convict a suspect who has been identified by multiple eyewitnesses than by a single one? Participants saw a lineup of faces with one face highlighted as having been identified by either one or two highly confident eyewitnesses. Participants estimated the likely guilt of the suspect. Two eyewitnesses were not more persuasive than one when either the single or the multiple eyewitnesses had provided a featural justification about their identification (e.g., “I remember his eyes”). But, guilt judgments were reliably higher in the two eyewitness than in the single eyewitness condition when eyewitnesses provided either a confidence statement only or a confidence statement with a recognition justification (e.g., “I recognize him”). Furthermore, two eyewitnesses who mention different features are less persuasive than two eyewitnesses who mention the same feature. The results are consistent with our perceived diagnosticity account.
Source: Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research