The present studies tested whether African American face type (stereotypical or nonstereotypical) facilitated stereotype-consistent categorization, and whether that categorization influenced memory accuracy and errors. Previous studies have shown that stereotypically Black features are associated with crime and violence (e. here, we extended this finding to investigate whether there is a bias toward remembering and recategorizing stereotypical faces as criminals. Using category labels, consistent (or inconsistent) with race-based expectations, we tested whether face recognition and recategorization were driven by the similarity between a target's facial features and a stereotyped category (i.e., stereotypical Black faces associated with crime/violence). The results revealed that stereotypical faces were associated more often with a stereotype-consistent label (Study 1), were remembered and correctly recategorized as criminals (Studies 2-4), and were miscategorized as criminals when memory failed. These effects occurred regardless of race or gender. Together, these findings suggest that face types have strong category associations that can promote stereotype-motivated recognition errors. Implications for eyewitness accuracy are discussed.

Eyewitness misidentifications are the leading factor contributing to wrongful convictions. Black men, more than any other racial group, are disproportionately affected by this, thus elevating the importance of identifying factors that contribute to the false recollection of unseen faces. In the current studies, we tested whether misplaced familiarity and subsequent misidentification of Black faces was underpinned by the degree to which target faces were considered 'prototypical' (i.e., representative) of the Black race category. First, results revealed that Black faces with stereotypical facial features were accurately categorized as 'Black' quicker than faces with nonstereotypical features (Experiment 1). Moreover, identification errors were higher for both face recognition (Experiment 2) and line-up identification (Experiment3) for stereotypicalfeatured than nonstereotypical-featured faces. Overall, results suggest that stereotypical Black faces are representative of the category 'Black' and facilitated feelings of familiarity and the endorsement of memory errors that may underpin eyewitness misidentifications.

Purpose Eyewitness misidentification is the leading cause of wrongful convictions, and Black men, more than other racial groups, are affected by this memory error. A subgroup of Black men who have stereotypically Black features (dark skin, wide lips, and nose) are associated with the criminal‐Black‐man stereotype more than their atypical counterparts. This perception of criminality leads to harsh sentencing and misidentification from line‐ups in laboratory studies. In this study, we investigated whether face‐type biases that lead to misidentifications in the laboratory extend to real‐world cases. Method Participants rated the face stereotypicality of Black men exonerated by the Innocence Project (IP) with DNA evidence, who were incarcerated due to eyewitness misidentification (IP eyewitness) and for non‐misidentification reasons (IP other). Results Higher stereotypicality‐face ratings were given to IP eyewitness exonerates than to IP other exonerates regardless of participant race. Moreover, the face ratings were unrelated to the race of the eyewitness in the actual case (i.e., cross‐race, same race), suggesting that cross‐race misidentification was not associated with higher stereotypicality ratings of the IP eyewitness exonerates. Conclusions These findings are consistent with extant laboratory research wherein Black men with stereotypical facial features are at increased risk for eyewitness misidentification and that face‐type biases extend beyond cross‐race judgements. These results further highlight the risk of face‐type judgements in misidentifications that potentially contribute to error in real‐world cases.

In criminal law, jurors are supposed to ignore defendant race when considering factual matters of culpability. However, when judging the merits of a criminal case, jurors' ability (or inability) to avoid bias may affect verdicts. Fact-based decision making expend cognitive resources, while heuristic-based decisions (e.g., using criminal stereotypes) conserve resources. Here, we investigated whether differences in cognitive resources and prejudice attitudes about Blacks influenced trial outcomes. We tested the impact of working memory capacity (WMC), cognitive load, prejudice, and target race (Black, White) on penalties ascribed to fictional criminal defendants in ambiguous-fact cases. Results showed that when "loaded," prejudiced-low-WMC persons supported guilty verdicts with higher confidence more often for Black than White defendants. Conversely, regardless of WMC or prejudice attitude, participants penalized White defendants more often when not loaded. We suggest that cognitive resources and prejudice attitude influence fact-based decisions. Links to juror judgments and potential trial outcomes are discussed.

Two experiments tested the influences of vivid imagery and person schemata on eyewitness accuracy. Participants watched an event sequence including actors performing stereotype-consistent and inconsistent actions. Additionally, participants either read descriptions of actions (Experiment 1) or vividly imagined actions (Experiment 2). After either 30 minutes or 2 days, recognition memory, source memory, and remember/know judgements were made. After 2 days, false alarms to imagined events increased, relative to the 30-minute test; those false alarms were more often misattributed to stereotype-consistent actors, relative to the same actions in the reading condition. In addition, the accompanying remember judgements were higher for false alarms to imagined events, relative to read events, regardless of stereotype consistency. Overall the results suggest that, over time, vivid imagery reinforces schema activation, increasing stereotype-consistent false memories.