Are Lineup Decisions and Strategies Affected by Memory Quality and Lineup Type?

Abstract

In the past there has been research which demonstrated the effects of lineup type and memory quality but there has been little research which considers whether lineup type and memory interact. This current study was exploring how lineup decisions and strategies affected by memory quality and lineup type? It also looked at which lineup type leads to more correct identifications and which lineup type produces more correct rejections? Another question this study wanted to answer was does lineup type and memory quality interacts? Participants viewed videos which were of poor, moderate or good quality. Each of the participants viewed either a simultaneous lineup or a sequential lineup. The target (guilty suspect) was either present or not present in the lineup. Correct identifications were affected by memory. Poor memory quality produces less correct identifications compared to the moderate or good quality memory. Simultaneous lineups led to more correct identifications and sequential lineups lead to more correct rejections but it was not found to be statistically significant. The study showed that lineup type and memory quality do not interact. This study may have benefited from a higher number of participants as the sample size here is small. Keywords: Memory, simultaneous lineup, sequential lineup, correct identifications.