THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CONFIDENCE AND ACCURANCY: CURRENT THOUGHTS OF THE LIT- ERATURE AND A NEW AREA OF RE- SEARCH

Abstract

Many believe the levels of confidence eyewitness ’ express when identifying crimi-nal suspects in lineups or testifying in trials make good predictors of their memory accu-racy. Traditionally known as the confidence-accuracy (CA) relationship, the assumption is that as one’s confidence increases so does thier level of accuracy. The research litera-ture has addressed the CA relationship along three main lines: examining rates of confi-dence and accuracy in memory for general knowledge (factual information), determining if the CA relationship can be divided into subsections in which performance levels are consistent, and developing measures to raise the value of the CA relationship. The lit-erature outlining the role of the CA relationship in criminal suspect identification is in-deed extensive, but there is little mention of a new field of interest in which the CA rela-tionship is applied to eyewitness memory for product brand names. While there are a number of factors present during every trial which may ultimately decide the fate of a defendant, some factors are given more credence than others, particularly by the jury de-ciding the case. In some cases, the only available evidence to a jury may be the testimony of a witness who has claimed to have seen or been aware of the offenses committed by the defendant. Frequently, the jury uses a witness’s level of subjective confi-Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dr. Kevin