Line-Up Image Position in Simultaneous and Sequential Line-Ups: The Effects of Age and Viewing Distance on Selection Patterns

Abstract

It is known that children and older adults produce more false alarms in target absent line-ups and that weaker facial encoding increases choosing bias. However, there has been no investigation of how age or facial encoding strength impacts line-up position selections in either sequential or simultaneous line-ups. In the present study, we presented participants with four live targets (one by one) while manipulating sequential and simultaneous line-ups between participants and target present and target absent line-ups within participants. In order to investigate facial encoding strength, we presented the targets at distances between 5 and 110 m. Our main hypotheses were that children due to deficits with inhibition would be more biased toward indiscriminate selections in the first position of sequential line-ups compared with subsequent lineup positions and that first position selections would increase for all age groups as facial encoding became weaker. In simultaneous line-ups, we expected to find a top row bias. In our sample (N = 1,588 participants; 6-77 years), we found that younger children (6-11 years) and the oldest adults (60-77 years) showed a first position bias in sequential line-ups, and as facial encoding became weaker, all age groups (6-11, 12-17, 18-44, 45-59, and 60-77 years) showed an increased tendency to make first position selections. We also found a weak top row preference in simultaneous line-ups, which was moderated by age and increased distance. The main finding is that the results suggest that younger children and the oldest adults had a tendency toward a first position selection bias in sequential line-ups. Based on the combined results, we recommend caution when using sequential line-ups with younger children or older adults.

Identifying unfamiliar voices: Examining the system variables of sample duration and parade size

“…The analysis showed that target voices in earlier positions resulted in accuracy rates that were almost double the accuracy for later positions. This indicates that serial voice parades suffer from the same “unwanted position effects” found in sequential eyewitness lineups (Meisters et al, 2018; Nyman et al, 2020). One explanation for this is that more auditory attentional resources are available in the beginning of a voice parade compared with voices later in the parade.…”

“…Importantly, we found strong evidence that “unwanted position effects” were present in both experiments indicating that listeners in both the nine- and six-voice parades were substantially more likely to identify the target correctly when it appeared in an early position compared with a late position. While position effects have not been studied previously in voice identification research, there is some evidence that listeners are more likely to pick early faces in sequential eyewitness lineups (e.g., Nyman et al, 2020). We discuss the potential implications of these findings below.…”