School of Psychology Seminar Series - Face Value? How Jurors Evaluate Eyewitness Face Recognition Ability
Date | Wednesday 10 August 2022 |
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Time | 12pm - 1pm |
Where | K.G.01 or Zoom (https://waikato.zoom.us/j/84420725137) |
Presenter | Dr Adele Quigley-McBride |
Contact | Nicola Starkey |
Contact email | nicola.starkey@waikato.ac.nz |
Admission Cost | Free |
People vary in their ability to distinguish between faces they have seen before and faces that are new, and this ability can be objectively measured. Good face memory ability also strengthens the association between eyewitness post-identification confidence and identification accuracy, but we do not know whether jurors would understand this relationship. In three studies, we examined mock-jurors’ use and understanding of eyewitness face memory ability and post-identification confidence. Mock-jurors’ interpretation of the eyewitness testimony was mostly appropriate. Even when given expert advice, however, mock-jurors discounted reports of uncertainty from an eyewitness with good face memory, even though confidence statements from those eyewitnesses are more closely linked with accuracy.
Dr Adele Quigley-McBride received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Bachelor of Laws from Victoria University of Wellington in 2014. After receiving a Fulbright Science and Innovation Award, she began her doctoral studies with Prof. Gary Wells at Iowa State University in 2015. Adele graduated with her PhD in July of 2020 and is now a postdoctoral researcher with Prof. Brandon Garrett at the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law. Her work focusses on judgment and decision-making processes in legal contexts including prosecutorial discretion, eyewitness identification, juror decision-making, and forensic testing procedures.