DEFAULT VALUES IN EYEWITNESS DESCRIPTIONS - A PROBLEM FOR THE MATCH-TO-DESCRIPTION LINEUP FOIL SELECTION STRATEGY

Study 1 (N = 205) reveals that witnesses often provide vague descripti ons. Witnesses leave out information such as sex and race that they ce rtainly noticed (default values). Study 2 (N = 89) weakly supports the claim (Luus & Wells, 1991) that correct identification rates from lin eups are enhanced by selecting foils who fit the description of the cr iminal rather than foils who are highly similar to the suspect. Study 3 (N = 210) indicates that false identification rates can be inflated by selecting lineup foils who fit vague descriptions of the criminal b ut otherwise differ from the suspect on default values.