1. Gender and Race Effects on Accuracy in a Facial Recognition Task
Conrad Mueller, David Melton, Christopher Copeland, Benjamin Gruel
University of Central Oklahoma, Department of Psychology, Edmond, OK
ABSTRACT
Hypothesis: To confirm own race bias and own gender bias effect in heterogeneous race and homogeneous race groups as determined by a measure of accuracy in a facial recognition task.
Eyewitness recall has become a particular concern for law enforcement officials because DNA evidence has recently exonerated inmates who were mistakenly identified by eyewitnesses as perpetrators. Such evidence poses the question: How trustworthy is eyewitness recall? A 2between x 2within x 2within experiment was conducted to measure the effects of pairing similar ethnicities and pairing different ethnicities on eyewitness accuracy. The data were analyzed using a repeated measures ANOVA. Results suggest that eyewitness recall is consistently inaccurate, and affected by the pairing of different ethnicities.
Procedure, continued
The participant was then given an practice trial. The participant identified a circle on the screen by pressing “f” for “yes” or “j” for “no” on a keyboard. When the participant was comfortable using the keyboard, a screen prompt notified the participant that a series of eight male mug shots would be shown, followed by eight female mug shots.
The mug shots were of the same races and genders as the perpetrators shown in the crime scene photographs at the beginning of the experiment. The perpetrator and an alternative lineup member were presented two times each until the participant answered “yes” or “no” or until 10 seconds passed.
When all mug shot photographs were shown, the participant was thanked for participation and asked to get a credit slip from the experimenter.
CONCLUSIONS
This experiment confirmed own gender and own race bias. As expected, accuracy for the White female perpetrator was the highest, followed by the Black female perpetrator. This shows a greater bias for one’s own gender versus race.
As predicted, the accuracy for the other race improved when paired with someone of the same race. Unexpectedly, however, own race accuracy declined in these pairings. This decline was seen the most in the own race, own gender accuracy (26.14%).
The large decrease in accuracy for own race perpetrators when paired with other race perpetrators speaks to the possibility that separate systems of processing are occurring for different races and genders than for same races and genders. When these two processes are called upon simultaneously, there is a tendency for them to interact, bringing them both closer to the same level of accuracy.
These different perceptual systems may be the result of evolutionary history. Social status is, in part, determined by one’s ability to identify others as “insiders” or “outsiders” based upon such categories as race and gender. Attention to outsiders may be ignored because, historically, they could be of less consequence for own clan relations and social status.
The conclusions of this experiment attest to what is already known about eyewitness testimony, namely, that it is suspect at best. Eyewitness accuracy is affected by different processes, and accuracy can be increased or diminished by factors ranging from races and genders of individuals to whom the perpetrator is paired with. Eyewitness testimony should only be used as supporting evidence in a case and not as the sole evidence of guilt or innocence.
The results of this experiment are limited to the population of White females in a laboratory setting. Generalizations of this experiment cannot be made outside of this arena.
The next step is to discover if this difference in accuracy is caused by the length of time a person looks at same race and gender persons compared to other race and gender persons. The overall pattern of gaze might also affect accuracy and be different for “insiders” as compared to “outsiders.
METHODS
Participants
Forty-four White female participants enrolled in Introduction to Psychology classes at UCO received course credit for participating in this study.
Procedure
E-Prime presented one of two crime scene photograph groups. The homogenous group was Black male, Black female (BMBF) and White male, White female (WMWF). The heterogeneous group was Black male, White female (BMWF) and White male, Black female (WMBF).
Gender was defined as male or female. Race was defined as White or Black. Accuracy, the dependent variable, was defined as percent correct.
Procedure, continued
A computer screen welcomed the participant and prompted her to push a keyboard button when she was ready to proceed. Ten crime scene photographs featuring five of each homogenous group or each heterogeneous group were presented for 5 seconds each.
The computer then prompted the participant to count aloud, backwards from 100 to 0.
After three minutes, the screen prompted the participant to ask any questions if necessary before continuing.
ASSESSMENT
CARE PLAN
BACKGROUND
Law enforcement officials and psychologists are suspicious of eyewitness testimony because recent DNA evidence has exonerated individuals who were misidentified by their accusers.
Many different processes affect the accuracy of eyewitnesses. These include weapon focus, eyewitnesses perceived accuracy, questioning style, presentation of mug shots, race and gender.
Race and gender have been shown to contribute to a higher probability of false identification, with eyewitnesses tending to be more accurate for their own race and gender.
Several studies have confirmed an own race and own gender bias in facial recognition. These findings are of particular import for evolutionary psychologists who are interested in underlying perceptual systems.
Despite widespread replication of the main effects of own race bias and own gender bias, no published results were found that included a reliable interaction of these two factors.
A reliable interaction of race x gender may indicate more specific similarity biases than heretofore tested.
Furthermore, no published literature was found that addressed the question of accurate facial recognition when perpetrator pairs are heterogeneous with respect to race and gender.
RESULTS
Results confirmed an own race and own gender bias.
Results yielded significance for the main effect of gender; F(1,42) = .054, p<.05, ηp2 = .212, observed power = .907.
The difference between means of males and females was .17 with the standard error of the mean equaling .051.
The largest difference in accuracy was found between White females and Black males; p<.05.
There was a significant interaction of race X group; F (1,42) = 7.612, p < .05, ηp2 = .153, observed power = .769.
Participants performed better for own race and own gender perpetrators in the homogenous group. However, performance
declined for own race and gender perpetrators in the heterogeneous group.
Performance for other race and other gender perpetrators increased in the homogeneous group and decreased in the heterogeneous group.
HETEROGENEOUS CRIME SCENE PHOTOGRAPHS
HYPOTHESIS
If eyewitness memory is influenced by an own race bias or an own gender bias then participants may recognize perpetrators who are most similar to themselves.
The effect of heterogeneous versus homogeneous race pairs was included as an exploratory factor.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank: Mickie Vanhoy, Ph. D., University of Central Oklahoma, College of Education, Department of Psychology, Mark Hamlin, Ph. D., University of Central Oklahoma, College of Education, Department of Psychology