CHOOSING, CONFIDENCE, AND ACCURACY - A METAANALYSIS OF THE CONFIDENCE-ACCURACY RELATION IN EYEWITNESS IDENTIFICATION STUDIES

There is widespread agreement among researchers that the correlation b etween identification accuracy and confidence in identification judgme nts is weak. For this reason, many experts caution against heavy relia nce on confidence when evaluating identification accuracy. The authors present a meta-analytic review of 30 studies using staged-event metho ds that include target-present and target-absent lineups. Although the overall confidence-accuracy correlation in these studies corresponds to that reported in previous reviews, including choice as a moderator variable leads to a somewhat different conclusion. For choosers (those making positive identification), the confidence-accuracy correlation was reliably and consistently higher than for nonchoosers. In addition , the mean confidence level for correct choosers is higher than that f or incorrect choosers in every study.