Eyewitnesses typically communicate identification confidence to law enforcement in their own words. Despite a positive confidence-accuracy relationship when confidence is measured numerically (and identifications uncontaminated), there is no clear basis for determining whether oft-ambiguous verbal phrases indicate low, medium, or high confidence. Participants indicated which percentages they associate with low, medium, and high confidence or judged whether percentages signal low, medium, and high confidence. They also provided numeric interpretations of verbal phrases. Laypersons considered 80%+ as high confidence and the level of confidence they believed was intended with words and numbers varied considerably. Miscommunications about eyewitness confidence may be common.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Mansour et al. (2024) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: