This study examined the reliability of earwitnesses using an ecologically realistic experimental set-up. A total of 282 participants, distributed over three age-groups (7-9 vs. 11-13 year olds vs. adults), were exposed to an unfamiliar voice for 40 seconds. After a two week delay, they were presented with a 7-voice lineup. Half of the participants were exposed to a target-present lineup (TP), and the other half to a target-absent lineup (TA). For both types of lineups the participants performed poorly. In the TP-condition only the 11-13-year olds (with 27% correct identifications) performed above chance level. Furthermore, in the TA-condition all age-groups showed a high willingness to make an identification (overall mean = 53%). For both groups of children, voice identification co-varied significantly with speaking rate and pitch level, as did pitch variation for the youngest children. Neither factor correlated significantly with the adults' identifications. © 2010 Springer Science + Business Media, LLC.
CITATION STYLE
Öhman, L., Eriksson, A., & Granhag, P. A. (2011). Overhearing the Planning of A Crime: Do Adults Outperform Children As Earwitnesses? Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 26(2), 118–127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-010-9076-5
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