An examination of criminal face bias in a random sample of police lineups

Faces with a stereotypic criminal appearance are remembered better and identified more often than other faces according to past research. In the present project, a random sample of police lineups was evaluated using the mock witness paradigm to determine whether criminal appearance was associated with lineup choices. In Study 1, mock witnesses were either provided with a description of the culprit or they were not. Participants also self-reported why they had selected a given face. In Study 2, the line-up faces were rated with respect to criminal appearance, distinctiveness, typicality, and physical similarity. Criminal appearance was the primary reason self reported for face selection in the no description condition. Mock witness choices in the no description condition were associated with only criminal appearance. When provided with a description, mock witnesses based their choice on the description. These findings are discussed in relation to lineup fairness

The own-race bias in child and adolescent witnesses: Evidence from video line-ups

This study investigated the own-race bias in British school children using an eyewitness paradigm. Some 319 participants viewed films of two similar staged thefts, one that depicted a Caucasian culprit and the other an Asian culprit, and then after a delay of 2–3 days, viewed a line-up for each culprit. One hundred and seventy-six of the participants were Caucasian and 143 were Asian. There were also two age groups: 164 were aged 7–9 years and 152 were 12–14 years. There was a significant own-race bias for Caucasian participants from both age groups that resulted in more correct identifications for the own-race culprit from target present line-ups and more false identifications for the target absent line-ups. Asian participants from both age groups showed no own-race bias and performed equally accurately for culprits of both races. Measures of inter-racial contact were associated with correct responses for other-race targets and revealed that the majority of Caucasian participants in the current sample had very little contact with Asians, whereas the majority of Asian participants had high levels of contact with Caucasians

The effects of masculinity and suspect gender on perceptions of guilt

This study investigated whether perceptions of guilt for both male and female suspects co-­varied with masculine physical appearance. In addition, the study tested whether the relationship between masculine physical appearance and perceptions of guilt was dependent upon whether the crime is stereotypically male perpetrated. Participants read one of three crime scenarios (burglary, child abuse and neglect, fraud and forgery) and evaluated the likelihood that suspects of varying masculine appearance committed the crime in question. Masculine physical appearance significantly affected guilt ratings across all crime types for both male and female suspects. Additionally, guilt ratings for male compared to female suspects were higher for burglary, a crime that was viewed as stereotypically male perpetrated by research participants. The results are discussed in relation to applied implications and future research directions

Nutrition and Disability

A disability often can be complicated by additional medical, psychological, or environmental problems. Under an emerging framework of health promotion for persons with disabilities, these additional health problems are referred to as secondary conditions (Brandt & Pope, 1997; Marge, 1988; Pope & Tarlov, 1991). Until recently, it was common to conceptualize these ailments as symptomatic of the primary disability; however, it is now presumed that because these conditions can be prevented or managed, they are secondary conditions distinct from the primary disability. Although information on secondary conditions experienced by people with developmental disabilities is limited, the literature does contain descriptions of some risk factors (Eyman, Chaney, Givens, Lopez, & Lee, 1986); identification of various diseases as sources of later, additional limitation (Miller & Eyman, 1979); and suggested health practices that might lead to the prevention of some secondary conditions (e.g., Marge, 1988). This research progress report describes three significant nutrition-related risk factors for secondary conditions in people with developmental disabilities—malnutrition, obesity, and issues related to the support staff responsible for food planning and preparation. These risk factors have potential to respond positively to improved health practices through well-considered interventions

An experimental examination of the effects of alcohol consumption and exposure to misleading post event information on remembering a hypothetical rape scenario

We experimentally examined the effects of alcohol consumption and exposure to misleading post event information on memory for a hypothetical interactive rape scenario. We used a 2 beverage (alcohol versus tonic water) x 2 expectancy (told alcohol versus told tonic) factorial design. Participants (N = 80) were randomly assigned to conditions. They consumed alcohol (mean BAC = .06%) or tonic water before engaging in the scenario. Alcohol expectancy was controlled by telling participants they were consuming alcohol or tonic water alone, irrespective of the actual beverage they were consuming. Approximately a week later, participants were exposed to a misleading post event narrative and then recalled the scenario and took a recognition test. Participants who were told that they had consumed alcohol rather than tonic reported fewer correct details; but, they were no more likely to report incorrect or misleading information. The confidence-accuracy relationship for control and misled items was similar across groups, and there was some evidence that metacognitive discrimination was better for participants who were told that they had consumed alcohol compared to those told they had tonic water. Implications for interviewing rape victims are discussed

Sexual violence and complainant intoxication

Sexual violence and complainant intoxicatio

The effects of alcohol intoxication on accuracy and the confidence-accuracy relationship in photographic simultaneous lineups

Acute alcohol intoxication during encoding can impair subsequent identification accuracy, but results across studies have been inconsistent, with studies often finding no effect. Little is also known about how alcohol intoxication affects the identification confidence-accuracy relationship. We randomly assigned women (n=153) to consume alcohol (dosed to achieve a 0.08% BAC) or tonic water, controlling for alcohol expectancy. Women then participated in an interactive hypothetical sexual assault scenario and, twenty-four hours or seven days later, attempted to identify the assailant from a perpetrator present or a perpetrator absent simultaneous lineup and reported their decision confidence. Overall, levels of identification accuracy were similar across the alcohol and tonic water groups. However, women who had consumed tonic water as opposed to alcohol identified the assailant with higher confidence on average. Further, calibration analyses suggested confidence is predictive of accuracy regardless of alcohol consumption. The theoretical and applied implications of our results are discussed