1. Eyewitness Identification: An Examination of the Other Race Effect
Nitu Kinzonzi, Talha S. Pasha, Colin B. Rochester, Brian W. Southard & Mary Alina Vettichira
Department of Behavioral Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Christopher W. Ortiz, Ph.D.

2. Eyewitness Identification
one who sees an occurrence or an object; especially : one who gives a report on what he or she has seen
A person who has seen someone or something and can bear witness to the fact.
Eyewitnesses play a crucial role in criminal case processing
Initial arrest
Prosecution witnesses

3. Issues with Eyewitness Testimony
Witness Project
By the end of 2007, a total of 210 people were exonerated through the use of DNA evidence
In three-quarters of these cases, eyewitness identification was the central piece of evidence
Alton Logan
Convicted of a Robbery/Homicide in 1982 based on the eyewitness testimony of three people
On April 19, 2008, it was revealed that he was not the killer and he was set free

4. Eyewitness Accuracy
Research has demonstrated that eyewitness accuracy varies significantly
According to Behrman and Davey (2001), eyewitnesses were able to make a correct identification 48% of the time
Several factors mediated accuracy
Time between event and identification
Presence of a weapon
Victim versus witness status
Cross-race identification

5. The Other Race Effect
Research has demonstrated that eyewitnesses are less accurate when recalling a person of a different race
Platz and Hosch (1988) reported finding a significant race effect among Anglo-Americans, black-Americans, and Mexican-Americans
Behrman and Davey (2001) found that cross-race identifications were made in 45% of the cases, while same race identifications were made in 60% of the cases

6. The Present Study
The study was designed to explore the accuracy of eyewitness identification
Research questions
How accurate are eyewitness identifications?
Is there a cross-race effect?

7. Methodology

8. Methodology Two part method Staged scenario Survey
Student actors entered targeted classes at the beginning of class and announced that they had found a backpack in the hallway
Survey
Approximately 15 minutes after the announcement, a student researcher administered a survey
Students were asked to identify the student actor from a photo pack of six photos

9. Please identify the individual that walked into class with the lost item from the pictures below.2 3 2 1 3 4 5 5 6

10. Please identify the individual that walked into class with the lost item from the pictures below.2 3 1 5 4 5 6

11. Please identify the individual that walked into class with the lost item from the pictures below.1 3 2 5 4 6

12. Survey
In addition to identifying the student actor, subjects were asked several other questions
Exclusion questions
Do you know the actor?
Have you ever seen the actor before?
Perceptions of eyewitness identification
Would you feel confident in your ability to be an eyewitness?
Relative strength of eyewitness testimony

13. Sample
The sample was representative of a typical college campus population
This limited generalizability
Sample
Gender
52.9% Female
47.1% Male
Class
25.9% Freshman
37.6% Sophomore
22.4% Junior
14.1% Senior
Race/Ethnicity
49.4% White
9.3% African American

14. Analysis Two levels of analysis General analysis
Overall reliability of eyewitness testimony
General perceptions regarding eyewitness testimony
Frequency analysis
Other Race Effect analysis
Is accuracy affected by subject/target racial differences
Chi-square analysis
ANOVA analysis

15. Results

16. General findings
Overall, subjects proved highly capable of serving as accurate eyewitnesses
65% of the sample was able to select the correct actor from the photo pack
72% of the sample report that they would feel confident serving as an eyewitness if they had witnessed a crime
Respondents rated eyewitness testimony as the weakest source of evidence in criminal case

17. Relative Strength of Evidence

18. Other Race Effect Analysis
No evidence was found for the existence of the Other Race Effect
Proximity of the event/identification relationship
Approximately 15 minutes separated the event from the identification exercise
Past projects have waited hours and even days before identification
Benign nature of the event
The event did not sufficiently simulate the stress and exigency of a real-life criminal event

19. Male Black/AA No significant differences observed
Chi-Square = 3.17 (4), p= Correct / Incorrect
Whites % / 38%
Black/AA % / 50%
Hispanic % / 50%
Asian/PI % / 38%

20. Male White No significant differences observed
Chi-Square = 3.34 (4), p= Correct / Incorrect
Whites % / 29%
Black/AA % / 0%
Hispanic % / 50%
Asian/PI % / 0%

21. Female Asian No significant differences observed
Chi-Square = 5.67 (4), p= Correct / Incorrect
Whites % / 0%
Black/AA % / 40%
Hispanic % / 50%
Asian/PI % / 100%

22. Conclusion
Generally, people were confident that they could serve as eyewitnesses
The sample was highly accurate in their eyewitness selections
We did not find a cross-race effect
This may have been the result of a small sample size