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

Cogent Psychology

James Michael Lampinen¹  Maria Tuomisto²  Pekka Santtila³  Thomas J. Nyman⁴  Jan Antfolk⁴  Julia Korkman⁴  Johanna K. Kaakinen⁵ 

[1] Department of Psychological Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, US;Department of Psychology, University of Turku, Turku, Finlan;Faculty of Arts and Sciences, NYU Shanghai, Shanghai, Chin;Faculty of Arts, Psychology and Theology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finlan;Turku Institute for Advanced Studies and Department of Psychology, University of Turku, Turku, Finlan;

关键词: Eyewitness identification;    distance;    face recognition;    light;    lux;   

DOI  :  10.1080/23311908.2019.1632047

来源: Taylor & Francis

【 摘 要 】

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.

【 授权许可】

CC BY