Face matching lineups: an application of the filler-control method for identification from video evidence

When a crime is caught on camera, investigators may use face matching to identify a suspect with a physical appearance that matches the perpetrator in the footage. Typically, the identification is from a 1-to-1 comparison between the video evidence and a suspect image. The purpose of this thesis was to test decision-making in face matching lineups, which included the suspect's image alongside images of five non-suspects. Participants made a series of face matching decisions, using the lineup or the 1-to-1 procedure. Face matching lineups were able to improve suspect identification accuracy over the 1-to-1 procedure. However, this was only true if it was assumed that the lineups were fair and that the risk to an innocent suspect was equal to chance. Although further research is needed on how achieve this level of fairness, face matching lineups could be a promising solution to the risk of misidentification from video evidence.