WHAT DO WE NOT KNOW ABOUT EYEWITNESS IDENTIFICATION

Wells (1993, this issue) suggests that recent advances in psychologica l knowledge may lead to improvements in the procedures used by the pol ice in conducting lineups and photospreads. This optimistic appraisal of what psychologists can tell the police prompted a brief reappraisal of a more pessimistic review (McCloskey & Egeth, 1983) of what psycho logists can tell a jury. Although research on eyewitness testimony con tinues to accumulate and to improve in quality, there seems to be litt le reason to think that psychologists can help juries understand the e ffects on eyewitness identification of such factors as arousal, weapon focus, unconscious transference, prior exposure to mugshots, or cross -racial identification.