COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Social Influence in Eyewitness Identification Procedures: Do Blind Administrator Behaviors Magnify the Effects of Suspect Bias?

合作研究：目击者识别程序中的社会影响：盲目的管理员行为是否会放大嫌疑人偏见的影响？

• 批准号: 2043230
• 负责人: Laura Smalarz
• 金额: $ 20.04万
• 依托单位: Arizona State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-06-01 至 2025-05-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2043230&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: COLLABORATIVE; RESEARCH; Social; Influence; Eyewitness

DNA exonerations of innocent individuals have consistently implicated eyewitness misidentification as a leading cause of wrongful conviction. A key factor producing these eyewitness misidentifications is social influence, or the process by which interactions with a police investigator affect eyewitnesses’ identification decisions. In an attempt to reduce social influences in eyewitness identification, researchers have recommended the implementation of double-blind lineup procedures in which the lineup administrator does not know which lineup member is under suspicion. However, even double-blind lineup administrators sometimes engage in behaviors that could influence eyewitness decision-making. This project will test whether double-blind lineups are sufficient to prevent social influence from increasing mistaken eyewitness identifications. The findings could support the development of more effective policy reforms by demonstrating a need to move toward fully computerized administration of eyewitness identification procedures, a practice that has yet to be adopted by law enforcement agencies in the United States.This project consists of a series of experiments that will examine social-influence processes in double-blind lineups. First, these experiments will identify social-influence behaviors emitted by double-blind administrators and assess their effects on eyewitness decision-making. Second, the experiments will test whether administrator influence in double-blind lineups can increase the risk of eyewitness misidentification of innocent suspects by exacerbating the effects of lineup factors that bias witnesses towards identifying the suspect (e.g., unfair lineups, repeated exposure to the suspect). Third, the experiments will examine how social-influence effects carry over across multiple identification procedures and assess whether some eyewitnesses are more vulnerable to social influence effects than others. Fourth, the experiments will test competing psychological theories regarding whether social influence has stronger effects on identifications of guilty or innocent suspects. Finally, the experiments will assess the effects of administrator influence on the diagnostic value of eyewitness confidence, which is relied upon by fact-finders (e.g., judges and jurors) to assess the reliability of eyewitness identification evidence.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

无辜者的 DNA 证明无罪一直表明目击者误认是错误定罪的主要原因，造成这些目击者误认的一个关键因素是社会影响，或者是与警方调查员的互动影响目击者身份决定的过程。由于目击者识别中的社会影响，研究人员建议实施双盲列队程序，其中列队管理员不知道哪个列队成员受到怀疑，但即使是双盲列队管理员。有时会做出可能影响目击者决策的行为，该项目将测试双盲阵容是否足以防止增加错误目击者识别的社会影响，通过证明需要采取行动，支持制定更有效的政策改革。目击者识别程序的完全计算机化管理，美国执法机构尚未采用这种做法。该项目由一系列实验组成，将在双盲阵容中检查社会影响过程。实验将识别双盲管理者发出的社会影响行为，并评估其对目击者决策的影响。其次，实验将测试双盲阵容中管理者的影响是否会通过加剧目击者错误识别无辜嫌疑人的风险。第三，实验将研究社会影响力如何在多个识别程序中延续，并评估是否会影响目击者识别嫌疑人的偏见。第四，实验将测试关于社会影响是否对有罪或无辜嫌疑人的识别有更强影响的相互竞争的心理学理论。最后，实验将评估管理者的影响对诊断的影响。目击者信心的价值，事实认定者（例如法官和陪审员）依靠目击者信心来评估目击者识别证据的可靠性。该奖项授予法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。