Ditchfield et al. (2024)_When Consequences Have Weight.pdf

This research tested whether activation of an apparently real future consequence biases eyewitness decision making. Using a paradigm in which participants believed they were contributing to an actual police investigation and court case, we predicted that activating a possible negative consequence associated with one eyewitness identification decision would shift eyewitnesses' bias toward making the other eyewitness identification decision. Participants (N = 160) viewed a bogus surveillance video that they believed to be evidence in a criminal court case and made an identification decision in either a culprit‑present or culprit-absent showup procedure. Prior to the showup procedure, an administrator drew attention to a possible negative consequence associated with either an identification or nonidentification decision. The manipulation biased participants away from the identification decision associated with the activated negative consequence and toward the alternative decision that would obviate the activated consequence. Postidentification assessments of participants' motivations to avoid identification errors indicated that participants were unaware of the manipulation's effect on their decision. Findings demonstrate the importance of perceived consequences and social context in eyewitness decision making and highlight a continued need for ecologically valid paradigms.