Research Proposal

Chelsea C. Okeh
G/T Independent Research
2015-2016
Research Title: They all Look Alike to Me: A Study of the Cross-Race Effect in False/
Misconvictions in Eyewitness Court
Overview of Research/Objectives
This research project studies the Cross Race Effect and how the phenomenon affects
those who are misconvicted based off of false eyewitness testimony. I plan to conduct various
interviews with psychologists, eyewitnesses, jury members, lawyers/attorneys and misconvicts
that have been exonerated. This is to gather information on both the legal and psychological
spectrum of the Cross Race Effect. After which, I plan on creating a staged crime scene for a
small crime such as petty theft, and conduct a first-hand experience of how people are falsely
convicted because of arbitrary traits, specifically race. Within this study, adults will be used as
the test subjects because of their experience with the court system and because most adults are
used as eyewitness in court.
Background and History of the Issue
The Cross-Race Effect, is where an individual has the ability to better identify members
of their own race rather than that of others. This effect appears is the early-infancy stage where it
is observed in young children and continues into dotage. This tendency has visible origins where
majority of children befriend those most similar to them- same age, gender, and sometimes race.
This theory is traced back as early as the preschool years, where it is most prominent if an
infants social categories affect their social selections, and the infant is very sensitive to race, as
well as additional patterns in their observational skills. In relation to the Cross-Race-Effect, a
certain demographic, infants, are faced with the innate effect of having a bias toward anotherthat of which has characteristics an infant find relevant such as fairness in distribution.
Naissance of this theory originated in World War II, where heightened fear of the
Japanese due to the bombing of Pearl Harbor created Internment Camps. These camps were
heavily biased with racial misidentification, and prejudice towards Japanese in the World War II
internment camps. Through the Cross-Race Effect, false identifications by eyewitness
misidentifications cause more false convictions.
Problem Statement and Rationale
There are many criminal misidentifications because of the Cross-Race-Effect, (CRE) and
the limited ability to differentiate individuals of races other than your own. A characteristic
prominent in these cases are that more accurate identifications are made if the eyewitness and the
convict are of the same race. If, however, the test subject lives in a limited or single race
community, they will have greater trouble with recognition of other racial groups. In law and
judiciary, eyewitnesses identifying their perpetrators were 1.4 times more likely to identify the
actual convict given they are the same race rather than cross-race. In misidentification, however,
the eyewitness is 1.56 times more likely to identify the wrong suspect, simply because of the
complication in recognizing other races. Through the Cross-Race Effect, false identifications by
eyewitness misidentifications cause more false convictions. Although these are common, great

harm may be done to the supposed convict if falsely accused, ranging from fines to lifetime
incarceration.
Research Methodology

Research Question and Hypothesis

To what degree does the Cross-Race-Effect impact eyewitness misidentifications in jury
decisions?
The Cross-Race-Effect has a great influence on eyewitness misidentifications and is often
the deciding factor someone will be held accountable for a crime that they did not
commit.
Basis of Hypothesis
My hypothesis is based off of the Cross-Race-Effect and when it is used in
eyewitness misidentification. I am very interested in this aspect of psychologic/social
phenomenon in human behavior. I constantly hear about jury decisions regarding facial
recognition, and since the eyewitness has a greater chance of identifying the wrong
suspect, simply because of racial complications, those cases close with an innocent
convict charged guilty. However, judges and court officials rely too heavily on
eyewitnesses where there is a large margin of error due to memories changing, and losing
of significant information under the pressure of the courtroom or over time as a natural
progression of loss of short term memory.
Research Design
In this experiment, I will be conducting interviews. This is so I can focus on the
theory of the CRE. I will be taking multiple meticulous and systematic notes where I will
narrow down the broad subject of the cross race effect in eyewitness misidentification. In
the CRE, there is no right or wrong answer, rather, it is a phenomenon that occurs
naturally in humans, making it the ideal research. So instead of a statistical survey of how
people are affected by the CRE with facial identification, interviews will determine why
this is so.
Operational Definitions
The Cross-Race-Effect: as a phenomenon where people can recognize a face from their
own race better than the face belonging to another.
Eyewitness misidentification: The act of incorrectly identifying an innocent convict who
was seen as a suspect in a case
Perceptual expertise: mastery skills of perception
(Congenital) Prosopagnosia: Inability to differentiate between faces
Social Cognition: The use, storage and process of the information of other people

Product Overview
As a product for this study, I intend to create a staged crime scene. This is to create a
firsthand experience at eyewitness misidentification. The staged crime would not be serious, but
as simple as petty theft e.g. stealing a random womans purse. The audience in this case would

be adults from various races and ages because in real life, there is great diversity within being an
eyewitness- there are even child witnesses. However, my research is geared towards adult
eyewitnesses.
Logistical Considerations
Some logistical considerations within this research are that during the interviews, there
are some traces of bias and weakness. For example, the eyewitness may suffer embarrassment
from their prior experience thus wanting to end the interview quickly. In addition, the clients
responses may be taken as biased because of the tendency to please the interviewer and thereby
creates a false image for them. Also, the responses can be difficult to analyze and compare, and
the measurements of the data may be hard to validate. Within the product, the staged crime may
cause the adult to act irrationally, or not to behave in the manner needed within the experiment,
ex. not paying attention to the crime or violent action.