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A complete method for assessing the effectiveness of eyewitness identification procedures: Expected information gain
Jeffrey J Starns1, Andrew L Cohen1, Caren M Rotello1
1Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.
Psychological Review
|November 18, 2021
Summary
A new method using information theory measures eyewitness identification effectiveness. Expected Information Gain (EIG) offers a complete assessment of evidence value, differing from current metrics in eyewitness research.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Forensic Science
- Information Theory
Background:
- Eyewitness identification is crucial in legal investigations.
- Existing measures of identification procedure effectiveness have limitations.
- A need exists for a comprehensive evaluation of identification accuracy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a novel method for measuring eyewitness identification efficacy.
- To propose Expected Information Gain (EIG) as a superior metric.
- To demonstrate EIG's advantages over existing measures.
Main Methods:
- Applied principles of information theory to eyewitness identification.
- Developed the Expected Information Gain (EIG) metric.
- Compared EIG with diagnosticity ratios and ROC analysis using demonstrations.
Main Results:
- EIG provides a single value summarizing identification potential across all responses.
- EIG often yields different conclusions on procedure effectiveness compared to existing measures.
- Demonstrations highlighted EIG's comprehensive consideration of all performance aspects.
Conclusions:
- EIG offers a more complete measure of evidentiary value in eyewitness identification.
- EIG has the potential to drive new discoveries in eyewitness research.
- EIG can inform policy recommendations for legal investigations.
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