Gary Wells has devoted his research to investigating the problem of eyewitness identification for the last 35 years. His research was personally shared Thursday evening at the Memorial Union during his lecture “Improving Eyewitness Evidence and Avoiding Wrongful Convictions.”

“I want you to take away an enthusiasm for the unique potential of social and cognitive sciences to answer questions and solve problems. This is really a message of encouragement,” Wells said.

Wells’ lecture marked the 12th lecture in the Dean’s Lecture Series, which is used to highlight faculty excellence in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

David Oliver, the interim dean of LAS, introduced the lecture.

“Gary Wells is a highly respected researcher and teacher in our department of psychology,” Oliver said.

Wells began his lecture by explaining the scientific way in which his research was conducted. Because a scientific approach was taken, Wells was able to document the problems involved in eyewitness identification and, ultimately, create a better understanding of what can be done to improve the reliability.

Wells’ studies have led to great success. A number of his studies and results were detailed in his lecture.

With his research results, he was able to discover the relative judgment process.

“Eyewitnesses tend to select the person who looks most like their memory of the perpetrator relative to the other members of the lineup,” Wells said.

Not only has this theory been published in textbooks, but it has also been absorbed by law enforcement.

Wells also detailed his investigative work with eyewitness certainty and the creation of false certainty.

“Eyewitnesses can be influenced even after they have made a choice from the lineup,” Wells said.

His most recent study involving post-identification feedback was introduced during the lecture.

“This data is so fresh that it still has the new data smell to it,” Wells said.

From his many years of research, Wells has created a list of five reform recommendations, which he addressed in his lecture. These research-based reforms include properly selected fillers, pre-lineup admonition, double-blind lineups, sequential line-ups and, his most recent addition, taking a certainty statement at the time of any identification.

Wells reforms have been well-received and have been adopted by the states of New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin. Florida and Texas are currently in the adoption process. Furthermore, many cities, counties and an estimated 1,500 other law enforcement departments in various states have also chosen to adopt his reforms.

Wells ended his lecture with a question-and-answer session.