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The Distance Threshold (PRE-PRINT)
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Description: Increased distance between an eyewitness and a culprit has been shown to decrease the accuracy of eyewitness identifications. The maximum distance at which reliable observations can be made is, however, unknown. The aim of the current study was to identify the maximum distance threshold by presenting four live targets at four of sixteen distances between 5 and 110 meters using an immediate eight-person line-up task. Simultaneous (SIM) and sequential (SEQ) target-absent or target-present line-ups were presented to 723 participants (age range 18-45) resulting in 2857 responses. Diagnosticity (i.e., the odds that the identified person in a line-up is the actual person witnessed) in SIM line-ups was 11.14 at 5 meters and 1.0 at 97 meters, and in SEQ line-ups 9.33 at 5 meters and 1.0 at 90 meters. When the distance between an eyewitness and a culprit was 97 meters or more, identifications provided no information. High confidence was associated with high accuracy up to 40 meters. Shorter response times were not associated with higher accuracy, but with lower accuracy at greater distances. The current study is the first to present a distance threshold, after which an eyewitness cannot reliably identify a culprit seen in optimal viewing conditions.