William Blake Erickson

A decade of evolving composites: regression and meta-analysis.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of seven variables that emerge from forensic research on facial-composite construction and naming using contemporary police systems: EvoFIT, Feature and Sketch. Design/methodology/approach – The paper involves regression- and meta-analyses on composite-naming data from 23 studies that have followed procedures used by police practitioners for forensic face construction. The corpus for analyses contains 6,464 individual naming responses from 1,069 participants in 41 experimental conditions. Findings – The analyses reveal that composites constructed from the holistic EvoFIT system were over four-times more identifiable than composites from “Feature” (E-FIT and PRO-fit) and Sketch systems; Sketch was somewhat more effective than Feature systems. EvoFIT was more effective when internal features were created before rather than after selecting hair and the other (blurred) external features. Adding questions about the global appearance of the face (as pa...

Mighty Morphin’ age progression: how artist, age range, and morphing influences the similarity of forensic age progressions to target individuals

When children go missing, authorities sometimes release age progressed images that are intended to approximate the persons current appearance. The current studies measured the influence of the range between the time when the child went missing and the age portrayed in the age progression on the similarity between the progressions and current images of the targets. Experiment 1 examined whole face images and Experiment 2 examined internal features only. Eight artists were recruited to produce progressions at three age ranges. Also included were averaged (morphed) images made of progressions of the same individual at a given range by different artists. Progressions across shorter ranges produced images more similar than those across longer ranges, and target comparisons yielded higher similarity ratings than foil comparisons. Although there was much variability among artists, the morphed images performed better than the average rating given to all age progressions.

When Snitches Corroborate: Effects of Post-identification Feedback from a Potentially Compromised Source

Feedback provided to eyewitnesses can influence memory as to how confident their previous line-up selections were. Witnesses given confirming feedback remember being more confident than witnesses who are told their selection was incorrect regardless of their accuracy. This can have a powerful impact on judges and juries. In this article, we examine the effect of feedback from a ‘snitch’ (a jailhouse informant). This manipulation often occurs in real cases, despite that fact that snitches could have something to gain from providing information to police. Our participants witnessed a staged crime and then identified the perpetrator from a target-absent line-up. Two days later, participants were provided with feedback and were probed for confidence. Results show that confirming feedback from a snitch has the same effect as a confession made by the actual suspect, and disconfirming feedback reduces confidence. Implications and relation to the extant literature on eyewitness confidence are discussed.

Locating Missing Persons Using Age-Progression Images from Forensic Artists

When a person goes missing for an extended period of time, years sometimes, forensic artists may be called upon to depict a recent likeness of the face. Artists use a variety of techniques based on out-of-date photographs to provide an up-to-date age progression of the face, and the current project explores whether these techniques are effective. In the following summary, preliminary results are outlined; in my talk, I will present more-recent findings.

When age-progressed images are unreliable: The roles of external features and age range

When children go missing for many years, investigators commission age-progressed images from forensic artists to depict an updated appearance. These images have anecdotal success, and systematic research has found they lead to accurate recognition rates comparable to outdated photos. The present study examines the reliability of age progressions of the same individuals created by different artists. Eight artists first generated age progressions of eight targets across three age ranges. Eighty-five participants then evaluated the similarity of these images against other images depicting the same targets progressed at the same age ranges, viewing either whole faces or faces with external features concealed. Similarities were highest over shorter age ranges and when external features were concealed. Implications drawn from theory and application are discussed.

Estimating the Appearance of the Missing: Forensic Age Progression in the Search for Missing Persons

When children go missing for many years, police and missing persons agencies will commission the creation of age-progressed images designed to approximate the child’s current appearance. Traditionally, forensic artists have created such images by hand. Increasingly, computerized techniques are being implemented. This chapter outlines some of the major research investigating how effectively such images create recognizable likenesses of people. We begin with an overview of cases where such images are used, cover facts about craniofacial growth and development, and outline the major techniques for creating age progressions and their associated challenges. We conclude with future directions based on new, cutting-edge research.

The effects of simulated distance on recognition of same race and other race faces

ABSTRACT The own race bias (ORB) refers to a finding that faces of members of ones own racial or ethnic group are easier to recognize. Holistic processing theories suggest that the ORB might be moderated by viewing distance. Participants studied photographs of own and other race individuals and then took a recognition memory test. Viewing distance was simulated by varying the degree to which photographs were blurred (Experiment 1) and by varying photograph size (Experiment 2). Findings indicated that own race faces were better recognized, that recognition was impaired by simulated viewing distance, but the size of the ORB was not contingent upon distance.