Eyewitness Racial Attitudes and Perpetrator Identification: The Lineup Method Matters

Studies asking witnesses to identify perpetrators from photo lineups have usually found that witness racial prejudice is unrelated to perpetrator identification accuracy. However, these studies obtained identifications from a photoarray in which photos were presented simultaneously. Study 1 used a procedure in which photos were presented sequentially. Results showed that when perpetrators were African-American, explicitly egalitarian witnesses more often made incorrect identification decisions than racially prejudiced witnesses. There were no explicit prejudicerelated differences in decision accuracy rates when perpetrators were Caucasian. Results were similar, but limited to non-African-American witnesses, when implicit prejudice was assessed. Replicating results from the traditional simultaneous identification procedure, Study 2 did not yield a relation between racial prejudice and accuracy. Potential explanations and implications are discussed.