Unconscious Transference and Lineup Identification: Toward a Memory Blending Approach (From Adult Eyewitness Testimony: Current Trends and Developments, P 80-100, 1994, David Frank Ross, et al, eds. -- See NCJ-159543)

• NCJ Number: 159547
• Author(s): D F Ross; S J Ceci; D Dunning; M P Toglia
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 21 pages
• Sale Source: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Although only a few studies of unconscious transference and lineup identification have been conducted, five experiments are reported to illustrate unconscious transference and how it occurs.

Abstract

In the first experiment, transference subjects were nearly three times more likely to misidentify the bystander than control subjects, and most transference subjects thought the assailant and the bystander were the same person, a process referred to as memory blending. The second experiment showed that, when transference subjects were informed the assailant and the bystander were not the same person, transference subjects were able to monitor or distinguish the source of their memories and the unconscious transference effect was eliminated. The third experiment found that the memory blending effect did not occur as a result of actually making the lineup identification task. In the final two experiments, transference subjects misperceived the assailant as the bystander at the time the assailant was first observed. Because of the limited research to date on unconscious transfer and lineup identification, further inquiry is recommended to reach more definitive conclusions. 39 references, 1 note, and 1 table