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.