Investigating the Impact of Prior Suspect Familiarity on Same‐ and Cross‐Race Lineup Identifications

ABSTRACT

Most cross‐race effect (CRE) research has focused on recognition accuracy for unfamiliar faces, though in criminal cases, witnesses and suspects may interact before a crime. Although prior familiarity can lead to source errors, its impact on cross‐race identifications is less known. To address this issue, we conducted two experiments examining how suspect familiarity impacts the CRE. Participants first studied cross‐ and same‐race faces (with or without conceptual information depending on the experiment), then viewed a criminal face followed by a lineup with a guilty or innocent suspect who was either familiar or unfamiliar. In both experiments, we found a CRE for unfamiliar but not familiar suspects. Familiar innocent suspects, regardless of race, were vulnerable to misidentification. When conceptual familiarity was added, it harmed the confidence‐accuracy relationship. Contrary to court rulings, our findings suggest that casual familiarity can actually be problematic for eyewitness identification.