Predicting accuracy in eyewitness showups: confidence and response time in the laboratory, confidence in the field

Description

Laura Mickes and co-authors tested whether an eyewitness's confidence means anything in a live showup, the quick one person identification police run when a suspect is caught near a crime scene. Most research uses photographs, where confidence predicts accuracy weakly. In their 2026 work, a laboratory study of 229 participants and a field study of 153 real showup cases from two American jurisdictions both examined live identifications. Response speed in the lab and an evidence strength scale in the field served as checks on correctness.

Confident and fast identifications were more likely correct in the laboratory, and high confidence rejections pointed to innocence. The field cases agreed: witness confidence again tracked accuracy when scored against independent evidence strength. Live showups, long feared as suggestive and unreliable, produced confidence that carried real information in both settings. Run with bias reducing safeguards, the authors argue, showups yield evidence solid enough to keep using.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13461980