Perpetrator Movement Reinstatement: Combining Facial Recognition and Movement Memory Within Video Lineup Procedure

To date, over 273 innocent individuals have been exonerated from their imprisonment with the help of DNA evidence, with an estimated 75% of these cases involving some aspect of eyewitness testimony. The current study adds to the literature of criminal lineup research in an attempt to identify factors which may increase an eyewitness's accuracy when viewing a criminal lineup. It specifically tests if the movement of a perpetrator may be considered a significant context cue in relation to facial recognition during a lineup procedure. A sample of graduate students (N = 60) participated in a experimental design in which they were asked to identify a perpetrator based on a previously viewed mock crime. Participants were given the conditions of either a standard photo lineup or a variation of video lineups that incorporated the perpetrator's movement. Results found that movement was not a significant predictive factor of the participant's identification accuracy or confidence in their lineup decision. Implications of the findings and recommendations for future research on movement and facial recognition are further discussed.