Receiver operating characteristic analysis of age-related changes in lineup performance

Abstract

In the basic face memory literature, support has been found for the late maturation hypothesis, which holds that face recognition ability is not fully developed until at least adolescence. Support for the late maturation hypothesis in the criminal lineup identification literature, however, has been equivocal, because of the analytic approach that has been used to examine age-related changes in identification performance. Recently, Receiver Operator Characteristics (ROC) analysis was applied for the first time in the adult eyewitness memory literature to examine whether memory sensitivity differs across different types of lineup tests (Gronlund et al. 2012;Mickes, Flowe, & Wixted, 2012). ROC analysis allows for the separation of memory sensitivity from response bias in the analysis of recognition data. Here, we make the first ROC-based comparison of adults' and children's (5-6 years and 9-10 years) memory performance on lineups by reanalysing data from Humphries, Holliday, & Flowe 3 (2012). In line with the late maturation hypothesis, memory sensitivity was significantly greater for adults compared to young children. Memory sensitivity for older children was similar to adults. The results indicate that the late maturation hypothesis can be generalized to account for age-related performance differences on an eyewitness memory task. The implications for developmental eyewitness memory research are discussed.

Child witness expressions of certainty are informative.

“…To determine the likely accuracy of children’s lineup identification decisions, applied research has largely focused on measuring average memory discrimination accuracy —that is, ability to discriminate between innocent and guilty suspects—in children of different age groups. This research suggests that memory discrimination accuracy improves with age (Humphries & Flowe, 2015; Laurence & Mondloch, 2016; see Fitzgerald & Price, 2015 for a meta-analysis). There is some discussion about the mechanisms underlying the improvements in memory discrimination accuracy with age on lineup tasks.…”

ROCs in Eyewitness Identification: Instructions versus Confidence Ratings

“…Although several different methods can be used to generate ROC data, only one method has been used thus far in the eyewitness ID literature (e.g., Anderson, Carlson, Carlson, & Gronlund, ; Carlson & Carlson, ; Colloff, Wade, & Strange, ; Dobolyi & Dodson, ; Gronlund et al, ; Flowe, Klatt, & Coloff, ; Flowe, Smith, Karoğlu, Onwuegbusi, & Rai, , ; Humphries & Flowe, ; Key et al, ; Lampinen, Erickson, Moore, & Hittson, ; Mickes, ; Neuschatz et al, ; Seale‐Carlisle & Mickes, ; Smith & Flowe, ; Wetmore, Neuschatz, Gronlund, Key, & Goodsell, ; Wetmore, Neuschatz, Gronlund, Wooten, Goodsell, & Carlson, ). That method makes use of confidence ratings that participants provide when they make an ID from a lineup (for a tutorial, see Gronlund et al, ).…”

“Only your first yes will count”: The impact of prelineup instructions on sequential lineup decisions.

“…This instruction comes in several flavors. Sometimes, participants are informed that they will be required to view all images in the lineup, but that only their first “yes” response will be counted (e.g., Carlson, 2011; Carlson et al, 2016; Carlson, Gronlund, & Clark, 2008; Gronlund et al, 2009; Mickes et al, 2012); sometimes, participants are informed that if they say “yes” to an image, they will not be able to respond “yes” to any subsequent images (e.g., Cutler & Penrod, 1988; Horry et al, 2012); sometimes, participants are instructed to make only one “yes” response (e.g., Elphick, Pike, & Hole, 2019); and in other studies, participants are informed that the lineup will terminate following a ”yes” response (e.g., Dobolyi & Dodson, 2013; Douglass & McQuiston-Surrett, 2006; Humphries & Flowe, 2015; Morgan et al, 2004). In many studies that have used termination rules, prelineup instructions are not reported clearly enough to determine whether the participants were aware that the lineup would terminate following a “yes” response.…”