Yarmey

Yarmey

1. 590 Participants

   • 215 males
   • 375 females

2. 6 Conditions

   • Whether the participant was male or female
   • Whether the participant was prepared or not
   • Whether cognitive interview techniques were used or not
   • Whether the participant was interviewed immediately afterwards or 4 hours later
   • Whether the target was wearing a disguise or not
   • Whether the target was present or absent from the photo lineup

3. Results

   • Percentage of correct participants
     • Present - 49%
     • Absent - 62%
   • Students' predictions
     • Present - 63%
     • Absent - 47%

4. Evaluation

   • Strengths
     • The participants were approached in public – their usual settings – and this means that they are not likely to display demand characteristics, as they would in a lab experiment
     • The study used a very large sample of participants. A large range of ages was used, and both men and women were present
     • The results of Yarmey’s research would be usefully applied in a courtroom setting to advise members of the jury that eyewitness accounts of perpetrators are not always accurate and less emphasis should be placed on them
   • Weaknesses
     • The study may not be reliable. This is because it took place in public, where there are likely to be many extraneous variables such as other people present and noise which could affect the participant’s behaviour
     • The participants were approached by a target who asked for directions or to look for jewellery. This is clearly different from being approached by a criminal who may be behaving aggressively
     • The photo line-up is not the same as a real life line-up. A photo of a face is not the same as the actual person being there

5. Procedure

   • Participants approached in public in by a young woman (target)
     • Looking for lost jewellery or directions
       • Later, participants approached by female researcher who asked them if they would take part in a study
         • Given a questionnaire with 16 items, 8 on physical characteristics and 8 on clothing
           • Asked to identify target from line-up of 6 photos