Date of Graduation
5-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science in Biology
Degree Level
Undergraduate
Department
Psychological Science
Advisor/Mentor
James Lampinen
Committee Member
Amy Poe
Second Committee Member
J. D. Willson
Third Committee Member
Cory Mixdorf
Abstract
Eyewitness testimony is widely used in legal settings but is often unreliable. This leads researchers to examine many different factors which may improve its accuracy and reliability. This study investigated whether training utilizing lineup procedures and confidence judgments improves identification accuracy, along with whether different confidence scales could affect the confidence-accuracy relationship. Undergraduate participants (N = 88) were randomly assigned to one of ten conditions in a 2 (trained vs. untrained) × 5 (confidence scale) design. Participants completed target-present and target-absent lineup tasks, and accuracy was analyzed using logistic regression alongside confidence-accuracy characteristic (CAC) analyses from confidence judgments immediately following each lineup task. The results showed that training significantly improved accuracy in both lineup types, and higher confidence was associated with higher accuracy. Most scales benefited from training. These findings support confidence as a useful predictor of accuracy under appropriate conditions and suggest that training enhances eyewitness performance.
Keywords
Eyewitness Memory; Confidence; Training; Scale-types; Psychology
Citation
Rateliff, M. (2026). Improving Eyewitness Performance: Effects of Training on Lineup Accuracy and Confidence Judgments Across Different Scales. Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/psycuht/98
