Delays reduce culprit-presence detection but do not affect guessing-based selection in response to lineups
Abstract Police lineups are conducted with varying delays between the crime and the lineup. Crime-to-lineup delays may adversely affect the detection of the presence and absence of the culprit in the lineup and may potentially affect guessing-based selection. In the present study we examined how the...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-13937-w |
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| author | Amelie Therre Raoul Bell Nicola Marie Menne Carolin Mayer Ulla Lichtenhagen Axel Buchner |
| author_facet | Amelie Therre Raoul Bell Nicola Marie Menne Carolin Mayer Ulla Lichtenhagen Axel Buchner |
| author_sort | Amelie Therre |
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| description | Abstract Police lineups are conducted with varying delays between the crime and the lineup. Crime-to-lineup delays may adversely affect the detection of the presence and absence of the culprit in the lineup and may potentially affect guessing-based selection. In the present study we examined how these processes change across four crime-to-lineup delays. Participants viewed a staged-crime video and then completed simultaneous photo lineups after no delay or after a delay of one day, one week or one month. The results showed a significant decline in the probability of culprit-presence detection. The form of the decline is best described by a power function with the most rapid decline occurring at short crime-to-lineup delays. Eyewitnesses did not compensate the decline in culprit-presence detection by increasing guessing-based selection, as demonstrated by the fact that the probability of guessing-based selection remained constant across crime-to-lineup delays. The findings underscore the critical importance of conducting lineups as soon as possible after a crime to maximize the probability of memory-based-culprit detection. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c3e73c4aae5e48ecbc2f5940ecec3e9f |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
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| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-c3e73c4aae5e48ecbc2f5940ecec3e9f2025-08-20T03:05:27ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-08-0115111210.1038/s41598-025-13937-wDelays reduce culprit-presence detection but do not affect guessing-based selection in response to lineupsAmelie Therre0Raoul Bell1Nicola Marie Menne2Carolin Mayer3Ulla Lichtenhagen4Axel Buchner5Department of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich Heine UniversityDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich Heine UniversityDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich Heine UniversityDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich Heine UniversityDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich Heine UniversityDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich Heine UniversityAbstract Police lineups are conducted with varying delays between the crime and the lineup. Crime-to-lineup delays may adversely affect the detection of the presence and absence of the culprit in the lineup and may potentially affect guessing-based selection. In the present study we examined how these processes change across four crime-to-lineup delays. Participants viewed a staged-crime video and then completed simultaneous photo lineups after no delay or after a delay of one day, one week or one month. The results showed a significant decline in the probability of culprit-presence detection. The form of the decline is best described by a power function with the most rapid decline occurring at short crime-to-lineup delays. Eyewitnesses did not compensate the decline in culprit-presence detection by increasing guessing-based selection, as demonstrated by the fact that the probability of guessing-based selection remained constant across crime-to-lineup delays. The findings underscore the critical importance of conducting lineups as soon as possible after a crime to maximize the probability of memory-based-culprit detection.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-13937-wPolice lineupsEyewitness identificationTwo-high threshold eyewitness identification modelDelayMultinomial processing tree model |
| spellingShingle | Amelie Therre Raoul Bell Nicola Marie Menne Carolin Mayer Ulla Lichtenhagen Axel Buchner Delays reduce culprit-presence detection but do not affect guessing-based selection in response to lineups Scientific Reports Police lineups Eyewitness identification Two-high threshold eyewitness identification model Delay Multinomial processing tree model |
| title | Delays reduce culprit-presence detection but do not affect guessing-based selection in response to lineups |
| title_full | Delays reduce culprit-presence detection but do not affect guessing-based selection in response to lineups |
| title_fullStr | Delays reduce culprit-presence detection but do not affect guessing-based selection in response to lineups |
| title_full_unstemmed | Delays reduce culprit-presence detection but do not affect guessing-based selection in response to lineups |
| title_short | Delays reduce culprit-presence detection but do not affect guessing-based selection in response to lineups |
| title_sort | delays reduce culprit presence detection but do not affect guessing based selection in response to lineups |
| topic | Police lineups Eyewitness identification Two-high threshold eyewitness identification model Delay Multinomial processing tree model |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-13937-w |
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