A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

A stab in the dark: The distance threshold of target identification in low light



Authors: Thomas J. Nyman, Jan Antfolk, James Michael Lampinen, Maria Tuomisto, Johanna K. Kaakinen, Julia Korkman, Pekka Santtila

Publisher: TAYLOR & FRANCIS AS

Publication year: 2019

Journal: Cogent Psychology

Journal name in source: COGENT PSYCHOLOGY

Journal acronym: COGENT PSYCHOL

Article number: 1632047

Volume: 6

Issue: 1

Number of pages: 23

ISSN: 2331-1908

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2019.1632047

Web address : https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311908.2019.1632047

Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/41623940


Abstract
Prior research shows that increased distance and decreased light result in less correct eyewitness identifications, yet their combined effect is not well understood. The aim of the present study was to establish the maximum distance in low lux (lx) where an eyewitness's later identification in target present (TP) line-ups is no longer reliable. We randomized participants (N = 178) into one of three lx conditions (high:300 lx, medium:10 lx, low:0.7 lx) and presented them with eight targets (one at a time) at eight separate distances (6-20 m). Each target-presentation was followed by an 8-person simultaneous TP line-up (i.e., there was a .125 probability of choosing the target correctly by chance). We found that the rate of correct TP identifications decreased with increased distance in all lx conditions. At 20 m the rate of correct TP identifications was .53 in the high lx condition, .41 in the medium lx condition and .11 in the low lx condition. The generalizability of our findings to overall eyewitness accuracy is limited by the exclusion of target absent line-ups, yet our findings show that reliable and correct target present identifications are very unlikely following observations made in low lighting (0.7 lx) at 20 m.

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Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 22:54