Effects of Ease-of-Retrieval, Hypothesis-Disconfirmation, and Post-Identification Feedback on Eyewitness Confidence and the Confidence–Accuracy Relationship

This thesis aimed to better understand the confidence–accuracy relationship for eyewitness identifications. Over six studies, the effects of ease-of-retrieval, hypothesis-disconfirmation, and post-identification feedback on confidence were examined. The results suggested that ease-of-retrieval and hypothesis-disconfirmation do not consistently influence eyewitness confidence. In addition, feedback was shown to influence mean confidence but did not proportionally undermine the confidence–accuracy relationship. Overall, this thesis highlighted the need to better understand the conditions under which these variables influence the confidence–accuracy relationship. This will help inform how the criminal justice system should evaluate the credibility and accuracy of eyewitness identifications.