How persuasive is eyewitness confidence? Are highly confident eyewitnesses so persuasive that their testimony overshadows other countervailing evidence? To answer these questions, participants evaluated a highly confident eyewitness’s lineup identification. Participants learned that an eyewitness either quickly identified the suspect (e.g., “I’m sure it’s him. I identified him instantly.”), slowly identified the suspect (e.g., “I’m sure it’s him. I identified him after a while.”) or they learned nothing about the eyewitness’s identification time (e.g., “I’m sure it’s him.”). Highly confident eyewitnesses who make a relatively slow identification are perceived as less accurate and suspects are regarded as less likely to be guilty as compared to when eyewitnesses make a fast identification or even when no information is provided about identification speed. Identification speed appears to be one of the few variables that can cause people to regard with skepticism the testimony of highly confident eyewitnesses.
By: Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition