'Mystery man' in the lineup reduces false identifications

Children are as good as adults at picking out a target from a lineup. But young witnesses are more likely to make a false identification when the target is not actually in the lineup. In one study, including an option that was simply the silhouette of a body with a question mark on it more than halved the number of false identifications and increased the number of correct identifications.

False IDs are measured in target-absent lineups, when the perpetrator isn't included. Correct IDs are measured in target-present lineups, when the perpetrator is in the lineup.
Chart: The Conversation, CC-BY-ND Source: Havard, C., & Memon, A. (2013). The mystery man can help reduce false identification for child witnesses: Evidence from video line-ups. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 27(1), 50-59. Get the data