A forensically valid comparison of facial composite systems

Charlie D. Frowd; Derek Carson; Hayley Ness; Jan Richardson; Lisa Morrison; Sarah Mclanaghan; Peter J. B. Hancock

doi:10.1080/10683160310001634313

A forensically valid comparison of facial composite systems

Charlie D. Frowd, Derek Carson, Hayley Ness, Jan Richardson, Lisa Morrison, Sarah Mclanaghan, Peter J. B. Hancock

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

86 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

An evaluation of E-FIT, PROfit, Sketch, Photofit and EvoFIT composite construction techniques was carried out in a “forensically friendly format”: composites of unfamiliar targets were constructed from memory following a 3-4-hour delay using a Cognitive Interview and experienced operators. The main dependent variable was spontaneous naming and overall performance was low (10% average naming rate). E-FITs were named better than all techniques except PROfit, though E-FIT was superior to PROfit when the target was more distinctive. E-FIT, PROfit and Sketch were similar overall in a composite sorting task, but Sketch emerged best for more average-looking targets. Photofit performed poorly, as did EvoFIT, an experimental system. Overall, facial distinctiveness was found to be an important factor for composite naming.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	33-52
Number of pages	20
Journal	Psychology, Crime and Law
Volume	11
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/10683160310001634313
Publication status	Published - Mar 2005

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title = "A forensically valid comparison of facial composite systems",

abstract = "An evaluation of E-FIT, PROfit, Sketch, Photofit and EvoFIT composite construction techniques was carried out in a “forensically friendly format”: composites of unfamiliar targets were constructed from memory following a 3-4-hour delay using a Cognitive Interview and experienced operators. The main dependent variable was spontaneous naming and overall performance was low (10% average naming rate). E-FITs were named better than all techniques except PROfit, though E-FIT was superior to PROfit when the target was more distinctive. E-FIT, PROfit and Sketch were similar overall in a composite sorting task, but Sketch emerged best for more average-looking targets. Photofit performed poorly, as did EvoFIT, an experimental system. Overall, facial distinctiveness was found to be an important factor for composite naming.",

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AU - Hancock, Peter J. B.

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