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Does constructing a facial composite affect eyewitness memory? A research synthesis and meta-analysis

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Abstract

Objectives

We conducted a meta-analysis to assess whether the construction of facial composites affects witnesses’ lineup identification decisions.

Methods

We located 23 studies (56 effects, 2276 participants). We consider effects of constructing composites on (a) correct identifications, and (b) incorrect identifications, from target-present lineups, and (c) incorrect identifications from target-absent lineups. Log odds ratio effect sizes were entered into a random-effects meta-analysis. We also present novel signal detection theory analyses in an online supplement.

Results

There were no significant negative effects of composite construction, but some weak evidence that composite construction reduced incorrect identifications in target-present lineups. Because effect sizes showed little hetereogeneity for any of the outcomes (after outlier removal), there were no moderator analyses. Results for SDT measures also showed no effects.

Conclusions

Empirical evidence suggests no effects of composite construction on identifications. We identify gaps in knowledge and make recommendations for more ecologically valid research.

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Note: studies with asterisks (*) are included in the meta-analysis.

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Acknowledgments

This article was made possible with the support from the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR). SADiLaR is a research infrastructure established by the Department of Science and Technology of the South African government as part of the South African Research Infrastructure Roadmap (SARIR). The research was also supported by two grants to the second author: Recognizing Faces of Other Ethnic Groups by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Science Foundation): Grant Nr. Sp272/9-1) and Reducing False Identifications of Other-race People through new Computer Techniques (SUA 07/028) by the National Research Foundation of South Africa and the German Ministry of Science and Education.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Cape Town, 7701, South Africa

    Colin G. Tredoux, Annelies Vredeveldt, Kate Kempen & Alicia Nortje

  2. CLLE, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UT2J, Toulouse, France

    Colin G. Tredoux

  3. Department of Psychology and Sports Science, University of Giessen, Otto-Behaghel-Strasse 10F, Giessen, Germany

    Siegfried L. Sporer

  4. Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, Netherlands

    Annelies Vredeveldt

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  1. Colin G. Tredoux
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  4. Kate Kempen
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Correspondence to Colin G. Tredoux.

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Tredoux, C.G., Sporer, S.L., Vredeveldt, A. et al. Does constructing a facial composite affect eyewitness memory? A research synthesis and meta-analysis. J Exp Criminol 17, 713–741 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-020-09432-z

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