Reevaluating the role of verbalization of faces for composite production: Descriptions of offenders matter!

Authors: Brown, C., Portch, E., Nelson, L. and Frowd, C.D.

Journal: J Exp Psychol Appl

Volume: 26

Issue: 2

Pages: 248-265

eISSN: 1939-2192

DOI: 10.1037/xap0000251

Abstract:

Standard forensic practice necessitates that a witness describes an offender's face prior to constructing a visual likeness, a facial composite. However, describing a face can interfere with face recognition, although a delay between description and recognition theoretically should alleviate this issue. In Experiment 1, participants produced a free recall description either 3-4 hr or 2 days after intentionally or incidentally encoding a target face, and then constructed a composite using a modern "feature" system immediately or after 30 min. Unexpectedly, correct naming of composites significantly reduced following the 30-min delay between description and construction for targets encoded 2 days previously. In Experiment 2, participants in these conditions gave descriptions that were better matched to their targets by independent judges, a result which suggests that the 30-min delay actually impairs access to details of recalled descriptions that are valuable for composite effectiveness. Experiment 3 found the detrimental effect of description delay extended to composites constructed from a "holistic" face production system. The results have real-world but counterintuitive implications for witnesses who construct a face 1 or 2 days after a crime: After having recalled the face to a practitioner, an appreciable delay (here, 30 min) should be avoided before starting face construction. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/33133/

Source: PubMed

Reevaluating the Role of Verbalization of Faces for Composite Production: Descriptions of Offenders Matter!

Authors: Brown, C., Portch, E., Nelson, L. and Frowd, C.D.

Journal: JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY-APPLIED

Volume: 26

Issue: 2

Pages: 248-265

eISSN: 1939-2192

ISSN: 1076-898X

DOI: 10.1037/xap0000251

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/33133/

Source: Web of Science (Lite)

Reevaluating the role of verbalisation of faces for composite production: Descriptions of offenders matter!

Authors: Brown, C., Portch, E., Nelson, L. and Frowd, C.D.

Journal: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied

Publisher: APA

ISSN: 1076-898X

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/33133/

Source: Manual

Reevaluating the role of verbalization of faces for composite production: Descriptions of offenders matter!

Authors: Brown, C., Portch, E., Nelson, L. and Frowd, C.D.

Journal: Journal of experimental psychology. Applied

Volume: 26

Issue: 2

Pages: 248-265

eISSN: 1939-2192

ISSN: 1076-898X

DOI: 10.1037/xap0000251

Abstract:

Standard forensic practice necessitates that a witness describes an offender's face prior to constructing a visual likeness, a facial composite. However, describing a face can interfere with face recognition, although a delay between description and recognition theoretically should alleviate this issue. In Experiment 1, participants produced a free recall description either 3-4 hr or 2 days after intentionally or incidentally encoding a target face, and then constructed a composite using a modern "feature" system immediately or after 30 min. Unexpectedly, correct naming of composites significantly reduced following the 30-min delay between description and construction for targets encoded 2 days previously. In Experiment 2, participants in these conditions gave descriptions that were better matched to their targets by independent judges, a result which suggests that the 30-min delay actually impairs access to details of recalled descriptions that are valuable for composite effectiveness. Experiment 3 found the detrimental effect of description delay extended to composites constructed from a "holistic" face production system. The results have real-world but counterintuitive implications for witnesses who construct a face 1 or 2 days after a crime: After having recalled the face to a practitioner, an appreciable delay (here, 30 min) should be avoided before starting face construction. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/33133/

Source: Europe PubMed Central

Reevaluating the role of verbalisation of faces for composite production: Descriptions of offenders matter!

Authors: Brown, C., Portch, E., Nelson, L. and Frowd, C.D.

Journal: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied

Volume: 26

Issue: 2

Pages: 248-265

ISSN: 1939-2192

Abstract:

Standard forensic practice necessitates that a witness describes an offender’s face prior to constructing a visual likeness, a facial composite. However, describing a face can interfere with face recognition, although a delay between description and recognition theoretically should alleviate this issue. In Experiment 1, participants produced a free recall description either 3-4 hours or 2 days after intentionally or incidentally encoding a target face, and then constructed a composite using a modern ‘feature’ system immediately or after 30-minutes. Unexpectedly, correct naming of composites significantly reduced following the 30-minute delay between description and construction for targets encoded 2 days previously. In, Experiment 2, participants in these conditions gave descriptions that were better matched to their targets by independent judges, a result which suggests that the 30-minute delay actually impairs access to details of recalled descriptions that are valuable for composite effectiveness. Experiment 3 found the detrimental effect of description delay extended to composites constructed from a ‘holistic’ face production system. The results have real-world but counterintuitive implications for witnesses who construct a face one or two days after a crime: after having recalled the face to a practitioner, an appreciable delay (here, 30 minutes) should be avoided before starting face construction.

https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/33133/

Source: BURO EPrints