The problem of line-ups as forced-choice tests is one that Gary Wells and others have researched extensively. Gary has some great data showing the false positive rates in the simultaneous lineup with an implied (or overt) "pick one" task versus sequential lineups, in which an unspecified number of potential choices are presented one at a time, with a "yes/no" response given immediately after each "suspect." Others have looked at "none of the above" as a response option in the simultaneous lineup, two simultaneous lineups (perpetrator present/ perpetrator absent) in which the first choice is to select which lineup includes the perpetrator and then select one person from that lineup, and other procedures to minimize false positives. In real police investigations there is a strong implication that the witness would not have been called in for a lineup ID unless the police believed they had their hands on the perpetrator, so giving "none of the above" as a potential response isn't as strong a deterrent to false positives as one would hope. Realistically, the second procedure can only be used in research. In a real investigation, police don't know who the perpetrator is and could easily create two perpetrator-absent lineups, although some false positives can be readily identified if the witness first selects the lineup constructed only from foils. In real lineups, identifying false positives sometimes happens anyway because some of the foils may be staff at the station, off-duty officers, etc., who are known to not be the perpetrator. Sequential lineups are so good at reducing the rate of false positives (but don't eliminate them), that the Department of Justice and police groups in the UK have been advocating adopting these practices.
The line-up procedure itself would be an interesting research topic for your student, although it would largely be a replication of existing work. Claudia Stanny --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=5066 or send a blank email to leave-5066-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
