Police eyewitness lineup bias... not what you'd think.
 

Saw a really interesting article last week, wish I could remember where I saw it. Have been thinking about it a lot, then saw an episode of the 'Soprano's' that brought it back to life.

The scene was where Tony, in his coma dream state, is being pursued by the Monks for the faulty heating system in the monastery, and Tony asks the head monk "Do I really look like this guy you are after?".... The monk (looking like a tibetian-type) responds that "all of you look alike to us".

The article I read was about how police, in any kind of cross-cultural eyewitness lineup have to discount 'positive' ID's based only on facial recognition. If the witness cannot mention 'other than facial' clues, the positive ID is discounted.

Seems the phrase 'All y'all look alike to me' is factual when a cross-cultural selection is required. The article was based on a study where many cultures were assessed. The ability to pick someone in the same cultural group out of a lineup was undiminished.

Was startling how bad the cross-cultural results were. Asked a LAPD detective friend about it, and he said most cross-cultural lineups were useless, unless it was the sole means of getting a bad guy.

I countered that in that case it might be the worst case scenario....

Along those lines.

Check this out, test yourself. I was suprised at my results when I did it.

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/

Jim, you are a great thinker and seeker of wisdom. Very interesting link. Thanks!

Howard

Reminds me of when I brought my Chinese GF to a DE. She saw a row of 911's parked and said, "These cahs all look alike....just like white people." I almost pissed myself.

Actually, I'll shatter your impression of me.

A few months back maybe as long as 6 months ago MTV aired a show called, I'm still here.

The show consisted of major movie stars reading the diary's of Jewish and Polish Children from the beginning and during WWII. The stories were chilling and if you did not have a tear running down your face a the end I would question if you had a heart.

The end of the show pointed me to a MTV website.

http://www.mtv.com/thinkmtv/#/thinkmtv/

I looked it up and did some reading. I found this Harvard study on there and took it. Like I said it changed the way I thought of myself and how I view others.

There is another study I will look for that proved most white people are racist and its not as fancy as the Harvard one. It will trigger your fear instincts.

I took the test and all I can say is, wow! Not only did I discover that as a southerner I’m an oppressed minority, I also found out everyone thinks we look alike!

Honestly? I think the test sets you up. I think it programs you to hit certain keys then switches them to confuse you. But what do I know I am just a stupid HS graduate. I am sure some Harvard type can explain how perfect this test is.

Here is a direct link for the lazy if you care or dare to try it.

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/

in the book "BLINK" by malcolm gladwell. chapter 3 "the warren harding error" gives a good explaination of why this is. the chapter is only about 21 pgs.