TITLE:
The Impact of Criminal Code Training on Eyewitness Identification Accuracy
AUTHORS:
Michael Storozuk, Paul Dupuis
KEYWORDS:
Eyewitness Identification; Criminal Law; Training
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.4 No.12,
December
26,
2013
ABSTRACT:
Eyewitness identification accuracy of offenders (persons who committed a
crime) is generally unreliable. In this study, we implemented a training
approach to examine the impact of a brief criminal law training session on the
identification accuracy of eyewitnesses viewing a simulated violent altercation
between two males. Participants provided with prior training on how to
appropriately apply specific criminal law definitions relevant to a violent
altercation (assault and self-defense provisions) were more accurate in their
identifications of the offender when compared to participants provided with
irrelevant training (a riot and the unlawful assembly of a riot), and
participants provided with no training, when observing the same violent
altercation. Potential implications and limitations are discussed.