Improving eyewitness identification accuracy using free-report lineups. There is major national and community interest in the successful conduct of criminal investigations. This research addresses the accuracy of eyewitness identification tests. Specifically, we investigate whether developing lineup procedures that separate out witnesses who are unsure of their response will prevent erroneous identifications. Progress on this issue makes an important contribution to decisions about the ideal lin ....Improving eyewitness identification accuracy using free-report lineups. There is major national and community interest in the successful conduct of criminal investigations. This research addresses the accuracy of eyewitness identification tests. Specifically, we investigate whether developing lineup procedures that separate out witnesses who are unsure of their response will prevent erroneous identifications. Progress on this issue makes an important contribution to decisions about the ideal lineup procedure, thereby preventing innocent people from being prosecuted and perpetrators being free to re-offend. Additionally the international collaboration on the project will increase the visibility of Australian social science research and provide crucial development opportunities for young Australian scientists.Read moreRead less
Identifying the bad guy with deadlined confidence judgments. There is major interest in the successful conduct of criminal investigations. Identity tests are commonly used in such investigations, but eyewitness decision accuracy is still unacceptably low. While eyewitness memory research has already contributed significantly to the development of procedures that improve the diagnosticity of identification decisions, our proposal offers radical new alternatives that can significantly improve diag ....Identifying the bad guy with deadlined confidence judgments. There is major interest in the successful conduct of criminal investigations. Identity tests are commonly used in such investigations, but eyewitness decision accuracy is still unacceptably low. While eyewitness memory research has already contributed significantly to the development of procedures that improve the diagnosticity of identification decisions, our proposal offers radical new alternatives that can significantly improve diagnosticity. In refining and evaluating these alternatives we will boost the profile of Australian science research and provide rich international training environments for young Australian and overseas scientists.Read moreRead less
Interviewing eyewitnesses: Enhancing output quantity and diagnosing accuracy. Although there has been general international agreement that open-ended police interviews (e.g., the Cognitive Interview) enhance output quantity and accuracy, it is also well documented that police investigators often depart from these procedures in order to probe for additional information. An approach to eyewitness interviewing that allows police to elicit greater detail while able to assess likely accuracy not only ....Interviewing eyewitnesses: Enhancing output quantity and diagnosing accuracy. Although there has been general international agreement that open-ended police interviews (e.g., the Cognitive Interview) enhance output quantity and accuracy, it is also well documented that police investigators often depart from these procedures in order to probe for additional information. An approach to eyewitness interviewing that allows police to elicit greater detail while able to assess likely accuracy not only has the potential to be widely adopted but would also provide a major breakthrough in the investigation of crimes and other incidents where interview data are so critical. This in turn would further enhance the profile of Australian (and UK) forensic science.Read moreRead less
Eyewitness identification: Metacognitive influences on choosing behaviour. There is major national and community interest in the successful conduct of criminal investigations. This research addresses the two most significant problems associated with the conduct of eyewitness identification tests: mistaken identifications of innocent suspects and failure to identify guilty suspects when they are present in the lineup. Progress on the latter problem - which results in offenders avoiding detection ....Eyewitness identification: Metacognitive influences on choosing behaviour. There is major national and community interest in the successful conduct of criminal investigations. This research addresses the two most significant problems associated with the conduct of eyewitness identification tests: mistaken identifications of innocent suspects and failure to identify guilty suspects when they are present in the lineup. Progress on the latter problem - which results in offenders avoiding detection - would be a major contribution with national impact. As well as the obvious implications for the conduct of lineups, the international collaboration on the project will increase the visibility of Australian social science research and provide crucial development opportunities for young Australian scientists.Read moreRead less
Understanding the relationship between child maltreatment and language competence: An evidential interviewing perspective. This research aims to develop the first comprehensive and controlled examination of the oral language profiles of maltreated children and how these impact performance in an investigative interview paradigm. This examination is essential for developing strategies for improving the elicitation of evidence from child abuse witnesses. By improving child witness evidence, this re ....Understanding the relationship between child maltreatment and language competence: An evidential interviewing perspective. This research aims to develop the first comprehensive and controlled examination of the oral language profiles of maltreated children and how these impact performance in an investigative interview paradigm. This examination is essential for developing strategies for improving the elicitation of evidence from child abuse witnesses. By improving child witness evidence, this research will improve the prosecution and conviction rates of child abuse offences, which will have a deterrent effect on potential offenders. Finally, this research will reduce the stress of witnesses involved in the legal process and provide better screening of children in need of specialised language intervention.Read moreRead less
The distortion of eyewitness identification testimony. A fair and efficient criminal justice system is important. This project will contribute to the continually expanding knowledge base required for improving the collection and use of eyewitness identification testimony. Ultimately, the adoption of principles suggested by this knowledge base will improve the validity and probative value of eyewitness evidence. This will advance the already significant contribution that Australian psychological ....The distortion of eyewitness identification testimony. A fair and efficient criminal justice system is important. This project will contribute to the continually expanding knowledge base required for improving the collection and use of eyewitness identification testimony. Ultimately, the adoption of principles suggested by this knowledge base will improve the validity and probative value of eyewitness evidence. This will advance the already significant contribution that Australian psychological science is providing for the administration of criminal justice. Read moreRead less
Methodologies for face recognition under varying imaging conditions. Face recognition systems are heavily dependent on the nature of the input to the system. Variability in appearance due to changes in illumination, expression, pose, etc. can reduce the recognition results of the existing systems. The aim of this project is to develop new techniques to improve the recognition accuracy in natural environment where unwanted image variations exist. The development of such techniques will be of grea ....Methodologies for face recognition under varying imaging conditions. Face recognition systems are heavily dependent on the nature of the input to the system. Variability in appearance due to changes in illumination, expression, pose, etc. can reduce the recognition results of the existing systems. The aim of this project is to develop new techniques to improve the recognition accuracy in natural environment where unwanted image variations exist. The development of such techniques will be of great importance to Australia's security and safety. The outcome of this research will provide the first steps towards formulating the next generation recognition systems that will improve the suitability of the face recognition for use in security, surveillance, intelligent robotics, banking, and smart environments.Read moreRead less
Feature-Level Fusion with Incomplete Data for Automatic Person Identification. This research addresses the current key problems in automated person recognition with incomplete data using multiple traits. The outcomes of this research will not only make a significant contribution to fundamental theory but also result in a wide range of crime and terrorism preventing applications including police database searching, access control, security monitoring and surveillance. They can be used either by p ....Feature-Level Fusion with Incomplete Data for Automatic Person Identification. This research addresses the current key problems in automated person recognition with incomplete data using multiple traits. The outcomes of this research will not only make a significant contribution to fundamental theory but also result in a wide range of crime and terrorism preventing applications including police database searching, access control, security monitoring and surveillance. They can be used either by police and law enforcement agencies, or at places of airport, government buildings, military facilities and even sensitive areas in offices and factories. It will help reduce crime, enhance the security of the nation to a world-advanced level, and generate new industry and export opportunities for Australian security industry.Read moreRead less
Face recognition under varying pose and lighting--towards automatic personal identification for surveillance systems. One of the key remaining problems in computerized human face recognition is the need to handle the variability in appearance due to changes in pose. This proposed research targets at identifying a person with a face image in a pose different from the example view by using a novel texture analysis and synthesis technique. This technique makes use of facial textures at different vi ....Face recognition under varying pose and lighting--towards automatic personal identification for surveillance systems. One of the key remaining problems in computerized human face recognition is the need to handle the variability in appearance due to changes in pose. This proposed research targets at identifying a person with a face image in a pose different from the example view by using a novel texture analysis and synthesis technique. This technique makes use of facial textures at different viewing directions and can recover appropriate textures for virtual views in arbitrary poses. The successfulness of the proposed research would make a technical breakthrough towards solving the major remaining problem in face recognition.Read moreRead less
Checking the validity of photographic identification documents: Enhancing the performance of security personnel through increased understanding of unfamiliar face processing. The ability to accurately establish the identity of an individual is central to the national security of Australia. Identity checking often relies on facial photographs contained on passports and other documents. Despite the introduction of automated systems, the decision whether a photograph is of a person rests with human ....Checking the validity of photographic identification documents: Enhancing the performance of security personnel through increased understanding of unfamiliar face processing. The ability to accurately establish the identity of an individual is central to the national security of Australia. Identity checking often relies on facial photographs contained on passports and other documents. Despite the introduction of automated systems, the decision whether a photograph is of a person rests with human operators. Research by CI has demonstrated that this task is difficult and error prone. The proposed research seeks to improve performance by developing a fuller understanding of the nature of the task and the limits of the operators' abilities and by testing possible training and selection procedures.Read moreRead less