“The weakest ink is stronger than the sharpest memoryâ€: testing the effects of witness note taking and retention interval on eyewitness memory

Objectives: The subject of eyewitness memory has been in the mainstream of empirical and theoretical activities in the discipline of forensic psychology with scholars devoting their time on devising a technique, tool, or approach for improving eyewitness memory. The present study examines the effects of note taking and retention interval on eyewitness memory. Design: A 2 (witness note: note v no note) x 2 (retention interval: two days v one week) between group MANOVA factorial design was used in this study. The dependent variables are (a) eyewitness memory (verbal recall) measured in three categories: (i) correct (ii) incorrect (error) and (iii) confabulations and; (b) identification accuracy.Methods: 40 students from various undergraduate disciplines volunteered to participate in the study. A three minute film depicting a bank robbery was shown to the participants. After watching the film, their memories for the event were tested in terms of verbal recall and identification of the perpetrator from the lineup. Results: Using 2x2 MANOVA, the result shows that there is a multivariate difference between note and no note on the combined DVs, F (3, 34) =3.61; p=.023; Wilk’s Lamda=0.76; partial eta squared=0.24 with correct recall accounting for the significant difference, F (1,36) =10.62; p=.002; partial eta squared =0.23. There was no multivariate difference between two days and one week interval group on the combined DVs, F (3,34) =0.67; p=0.58; Wilk’s Lambda=0.94; partial eta squared=0.056. Furthermore, there was no significant interaction between witness note taking and retention interval on the combined DVs, F (3, 34) =0.29; p=0.84; Wilk’s Lambda=0.98; partial eta squared=0.025. The effects of note taking and retention interval on identification accuracy were also examined. The result of a 2x2 chisquare test showed no evidence of association between these two variables and identification accuracy. For participants instructed to re-read their notes, there was no correlation between reviewing own note and correct recall. Conclusion: The results of the present study have shown that regardless of time interval, note taking can serve as a memory aid to eyewitness (es) of crime events. Note taking increases recall of correct information. However, it does not lead to increase in correct identification.</p

Validation of the factor structure and predictive validity of the Forensic Evidence Evaluation Bias Scale for robbery and sexual assault trial scenarios

In order to investigate the role of pre-trial attitudes about forensic science in juror decision-making, a previous study demonstrated the predictive validity of the Forensic Evidence Evaluation Bias Scale (FEEBS), using a murder trial scenario, which featured ambiguous prosecution DNA evidence. The current study validates the FEEBS using two new crime types and the conditions include a manipulation of the presence of DNA evidence in the trial scenario. The FEEBS successfully predicted mock jurors' perceptions of the probative value of DNA evidence for both robbery and sexual assault trials. The two subscales of the FEEBS were demonstrated to have different predictive ability depending on the presence or absence of DNA evidence. A confirmatory factor analytic technique was used to validate the underlying two-factor structure of the FEEBS, as previously proposed. These results are discussed with reference to the CSI Effect literature, and the potential for improvement to less empirically supported voir dire questioning techniques

sj-docx-1-cjb-10.1177_00938548241232068 – Supplemental material for Humane Interrogation Strategies Are Associated With Confessions, Cooperation, and Disclosure: Evidence From a Field Study of Incarcerated Individuals in the United States

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-cjb-10.1177_00938548241232068 for Humane Interrogation Strategies Are Associated With Confessions, Cooperation, and Disclosure: Evidence From a Field Study of Incarcerated Individuals in the United States by Talley Bettens, Hayley M. D. Cleary and Ray Bull in Criminal Justice and Behavior</p

Linking solved and unsolved crimes using offender behaviour

Offender behaviour is used to distinguish between crimes committed by the same person (linked crimes) and crimes committed by different people (unlinked crimes) through behavioural case linkage. There is growing evidence to support the use of behavioural case linkage by investigative organisations such as the police, but this research is typically limited to samples of solved crime that do not reflect how this procedure is used in real life. The current paper extends previous research by testing the potential for behavioural case linkage in a sample containing both solved and unsolved crimes. Discrimination accuracy is examined across crime categories (e.g. a crime pair containing a car theft and a residential burglary), across crime types (e.g. a crime pair containing a residential burglary and a commercial burglary), and within crime types (e.g. a crime pair containing two residential burglaries) using the number of kilometres (intercrime distance) and the number of days (temporal proximity) between offences to distinguish between linked and unlinked crimes. The intercrime distance and/or the temporal proximity were able to achieve statistically significant levels of discrimination accuracy across crime categories, across crime types, and within crime types as measured by Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis. This suggests that behavioural case linkage can be used to assist the investigation, detection and prosecution of prolific and versatile serial offenders

A Comparison of Logistic Regression and Classification Tree Analysis for Behavioural Case Linkage

Much previous research on behavioural case linkage has used binary logistic regression to build predictive models that can discriminate between linked and unlinked offences. However, classification tree analysis has recently been proposed as a potential alternative owing to its ability to build user-friendly and transparent predictive models. Building on previous research, the current study compares the relative ability of logistic regression analysis and classification tree analysis to construct predictive models for the purposes of case linkage. Two samples are utilised in this study: a sample of 376 serial car thefts committed in the UK and a sample of 160 serial residential burglaries committed in Finland. In both datasets, logistic regression and classification tree models achieve comparable levels of discrimination accuracy, but the classification tree models demonstrate problems in terms of reliability or usability that the logistic regression models do not. These findings suggest that future research is needed before classification tree analysis can be considered a viable alternative to logistic regression in behavioural case linkage