Line-up image position in simultaneous and sequential line-ups: the effects of age and viewing distance on selection patterns

Nyman, T. J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6409-2528, Antfolk, J., Lampinen, J. M., Korkman, J. and Santtila, P. (2020) Line-up image position in simultaneous and sequential line-ups: the effects of age and viewing distance on selection patterns. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. 1349. ISSN 1664-1078 doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01349

Abstract/Summary

It is known that children and older adults produce more false alarms in target absent line-ups and that weaker facial encoding increases choosing bias. However, there has been no investigation of how age or facial encoding strength impacts line-up position selections in either sequential or simultaneous line-ups. In the present study, we presented participants with four live targets (one by one) while manipulating sequential and simultaneous line-ups between participants and target present and target absent line-ups within participants. In order to investigate facial encoding strength, we presented the targets at distances between 5 and 110 m. Our main hypotheses were that children due to deficits with inhibition would be more biased toward indiscriminate selections in the first position of sequential line-ups compared with subsequent line-up positions and that first position selections would increase for all age groups as facial encoding became weaker. In simultaneous line-ups, we expected to find a top row bias. In our sample (N = 1,588 participants; 6–77 years), we found that younger children (6–11 years) and the oldest adults (60–77 years) showed a first position bias in sequential line-ups, and as facial encoding became weaker, all age groups (6–11, 12–17, 18–44, 45–59, and 60–77 years) showed an increased tendency to make first position selections. We also found a weak top row preference in simultaneous line-ups, which was moderated by age and increased distance. The main finding is that the results suggest that younger children and the oldest adults had a tendency toward a first position selection bias in sequential line-ups. Based on the combined results, we recommend caution when using sequential line-ups with younger children or older adults.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/118715
Identification Number/DOI	10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01349
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	No Reading authors. Back catalogue items Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology
Publisher	Frontiers Media
Download/View statistics	View download statistics for this item