Hosted by Kim Wade

Refreshments in Common room at 3.30pm

Can you believe your ears? Unfamiliar voice identification in forensic settings

In crimes when witnesses hear a perpetrator’s voice but never see their face (e.g. masked attack or telephone fraud), voice identification can constitute pivotal evidence. This kind of evidence is admitted in hundreds of court cases each year in England and Wales. For example, a witness might be asked to try and identify the perpetrator from a voice parade, or it might be necessary for the police or phonetic experts to decide whether two auditory recordings feature the same person. However, very little research has addressed a) how accurately these tasks are likely to be performed, and b) whether existing procedures could be adapted in order to support optimal performance. In an ongoing program of research we are investigating the memory and perception of unfamiliar voices. We have tested how accuracy and self-rated confidence vary across different identification parade procedures, and how voice discrimination performance is influenced by variables such as background noise and speech type. The results I will present highlight the error-prone nature of unfamiliar voice identification, and underline the urgency of adapting current procedures in order to reduce the risk of miscarriages of justice.