At the LCFP, our research is primarily focused on eyewitness identification issues. Mistaken eyewitness identifications have played a significant role in wrongful convictions. This has led to our interest in understanding eyewitness identification issues and findings ways to reduce identification errors. As secondary lines of research, we also are interested in factors that influence juror decision making as well as researching mental health and well-being.
More specifically, four lines of research are examined within the LCFP:
1. Child and Adult Eyewitness Abilities
We are interested in differences in child and adult eyewitnesses recall and identification abilities. Further, we are interested in how various factors influence children’s and adult’s identification accuracy. One factor that is known to influence identification accuracy is the lineup procedure presented. Dr. Pozzulo developed a lineup procedure known as the elimination lineup specifically for use with child eyewitnesses. We are examining under what conditions and for what populations the elimination lineup procedure works best.
2. The Influence of Familiarity on Eyewitness Identification
We are interested in examining how prior familiarity between an eyewitness and a perpetrator influences eyewitness recall and identification accuracy. Familiarity in an eyewitness context refers to an eyewitness who claims to have seen the perpetrator before the crime, in a non-criminal setting. It is not uncommon for an eyewitness to claim some prior familiarity with a perpetrator. Therefore, it is important to understand familiar eyewitness identification and the factors that may influence this type of identification.
3. Juror Decision Making
Evidence provided by eyewitnesses can be extremely persuasive to jurors, especially identification evidence. We are examining how various types of identification decisions and a variety of eyewitness factors (e.g., age, testimony consistency) influence jurors’ perceptions and decision making. In addition, since the #MeToo movement gained prominence in 2017, we have started researching the influence of various victim factors (i.e., age, delayed reporting) and defendant factors (e.g., race, number of allegations) on juror decision making in sexual assault trials.
4. Mental Health and Well-Being
High levels of mental health and well-being are important for all aspects of life. We recently began studying mental health, well-being, and resilience. The goal of our research is to understand and enhance these factors in both the student and general population.
Research Funding
Dr. Pozzulo’s research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Carleton University. The facility for the LCFP was made possible by funding from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the Ontario Research Fund, and Carleton University. Thank you to all the agencies that have supported our work. A very special thank you to all the children, families, and teachers that have given us their time and help with our research.