View article

Psychological scientists have long taken two approaches to combatting mistaken identifications: the system-variable approach and the estimator-variable approach. The system-variable approach involves developing lineups that prevent mistaken identifications. The estimator-variable approach involves estimating the reliability of an identification given all factors that may have affected memory in that case. The system-variable approach has had a tremendous impact on reducing mistaken identifications, but the estimator-variable approach has not. This chapter explains why, despite their import, estimator variables have failed to distinguish reliable from unreliable identifications in real cases, and then introduces a new class of variables that fill the void—reflector variables. Reflectors reveal how strongly the suspect matches the witness’s memory for the culprit. Because guilty suspects tend to provide a stronger match …