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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Holistic Facial Composite Creation and Subsequent Video Line-up Eyewitness Identification Paradigm

Holistic Facial Composite Creation and Subsequent Video Line-up Eyewitness Identification Paradigm

Published on: December 24, 2015

Sequential lineup laps and eyewitness accuracy.

Nancy K Steblay¹, Hannah L Dietrich, Shannon L Ryan

¹Department of Psychology, Augsburg College, Campus Box 32, 2211 Riverside Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA. steblay@augsburg.edu

Law and Human Behavior

|July 16, 2010

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Repeated viewings of sequential lineups increase witness errors when identifying strangers. A single viewing is more accurate than double viewings for lineup diagnosticity.

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Area of Science:

Forensic Psychology
Eyewitness Identification Procedures

Background:

Double-blind sequential lineups are standard police practice.
The efficacy of repeated viewings (laps) of sequential lineups is under investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

To determine the impact of repeated viewings on witness accuracy in sequential lineups.
To assess lineup diagnosticity with single versus double laps.

Main Methods:

Two laboratory experiments were conducted.
Participants viewed sequential lineups, with variations in the number of laps allowed/required.

Main Results:

A sequential lap effect was observed: increased picks from the first to second lap for stranger culprits.
The second lap yielded more identification errors than correct identifications.
Lineup diagnosticity was higher for single-lap procedures compared to double-lap procedures.
Witnesses viewing a second lap made more errors than those viewing one lap or those required to view two laps.
Witnesses with prior culprit exposure did not show a sequential lap effect.

Conclusions:

Repeated viewings of sequential lineups can decrease identification accuracy, particularly for stranger culprits.
Single-lap sequential lineups demonstrate higher diagnosticity than double-lap procedures.
Police should consider limiting viewings in sequential lineups to enhance accuracy.