Theoretical Approaches to Eyewitness Identification

This chapter introduces basic theories that can help the reader understand eyewitness identifications. The chapter begins by describing the basic stages of memory processing. It then describes basic theories of human memory, including signal detection theory and dual process models. The chapter then describes theories of face perception, focusing on Bruce and Young’s theory and holistic accounts of face perception. The chapter concludes by discussing theories specifically developed for the lineup task, including the lineup as experiment analogy, relative versus absolute judgments, the WITNESS model, diagnosticity, and nominal versus functional size. The filler siphoning account and diagnostic feature detection account are also discussed.