NCJ Number
159548
Date Published
1994
Length
24 pages
Annotation
Earwitness testimony, in contrast to eyewitness testimony, has not received a great deal of attention from either psychological researchers or the courts, possibly because of the greater reliance on information processed visually rather than orally.
Abstract
Some crimes may include both visual and auditory information, or may only be seen but not heard. For some crimes, however, such as those committed in darkness, with perpetrators wearing masks, or over the telephone, the sole source of identification evidence may be auditory. In many jurisdictions, the claim of a single eyewitness that he or she saw the accused commit the crime is sufficient for the defendant to be found guilty. Whether earwitness identification reports are as incriminating as eyewitness identification reports in convicting defendants is uncertain, since earwitness identification is significantly less accurate than eyewitness identification. More research on earwitness identification is needed to replicate earlier studies and to investigate other factors such as the influence of stress on memory for voices and the accuracy of identification from voice lineups versus voice and visual lineups before strong generalizations are warranted. Studies of the fairness of voice lineups are reported, as well as studies involving earwitness descriptions of voices, effects of group discussion on earwitness recall, the impact of stereotypes on earwitness memory, the impact of exposure duration and retention interval on earwitness accuracy and confidence, the accuracy of earwitness memory for telephone voices, and the accuracy of earwitness and eyewitness memory when showups are used. 59 references, 7 tables, and 1 figure