ABSTRACT
To determine if suboptimal procedures were used in a prior eyewitness identification, defense attorneys often ask witnesses at a deposition to recall those procedures. However, it is unknown whether witnesses can accurately do so. At Time 1,190 undergraduate student-participants viewed a mock crime and a subsequent lineup. They received either biased or unbiased pre-lineup instructions and either confirming or no post-identification feedback. One week later at Time 2, they were asked whether they received biased instructions/post-identification feedback at Time 1 with either non-leading questions or leading questions that suggested suboptimal procedures occurred or did not occur. Witnesses exhibited poor memory for pre-lineup instructions but strong memory for feedback, consistent with the self-reference effect. However, leading questions disrupted accurate recall of instructions and (to a lesser extent) feedback. These findings suggest that eyewitness reports of prior lineup procedures can be inaccurate and influenced by questioning style, potentially undermining assessments of witness reliability.