Psychological research suggests that using a simultaneous presentation makes it more likely that a witness will select a face even if the perpetrator is not present. In the current task, that would mean you should have been more likely to make an incorrect identification for for crime 3 (which had a simultaneously presented line-up) than crime 4 (which had a sequentially presented line-up).

Remember that when researching eyewitness identification, it's important to include a line-up that that does not contain the perpetrator, as this reflects the scenario of an innocent suspect (i.e. someone who is not the perpetrator) being investigated by the police (Steblay, Dysart, and Wells, 2011).

Did your decisions match this prediction? If not, it could be that you put the knowledge you have gained about psychology and investigations to good use!

The factors outlined here indicate the difficulties that witnesses face in providing accurate identification evidence, and also how careful the police have to be in constructing and conducting identification procedures.

instructions – did the instructions used involve a leading question, and did they suggest to the witness that the perpetrator was definitely in the parade?

Procedure – what procedure was used? Was it a sequential or simultaneous presentation, and how might this have impacted the witness's decision?

Structure – was the parade a fair one, or might the suspect have stood out for some reason?

Verbal overshadowing – ID parades are supposed to involve the witness comparing their memory of the perpetrator to the faces in the parade. Was that the case here, or might they have been relying on information (such as a verbal description, facial composite or information from the detective) from after the crime took place?

Unconscious transference – if the witness has seen the suspect somewhere other than when committing the crime, it is possible that they are transferring that memory into their memory of who committed the crime. Is it possible that this is happening here?

These are the issues that you've focused on in this course, but they are certainly not an exhaustive list. Do feel free to note down any other problems you think there might have been.

Once you have worked out what you think the problems might be, post a comment in the discussion below and see how your evaluation compares to that of others.