Police and Security, Vol. 35 No. 2, 2026.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.59245/ps.35.2.4
Verbalisation and Eyewitness Identification: Criterion Shift without Accuracy Loss in Bosnian Gen Z
Adnan Fazlić
orcid.org/0000-0002-4419-1828
; Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security Studies, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Irma Deljkić
; Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security Studies, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Ray Bull
; University of Derby, England, United Kingdom.
Abstract
This study presents a planned replication of Schooler and Engstler-Schooler’s (1990) core ex periments to examine the effects of verbalisation on eyewitness identification in a Bosnian Gen eration Z sample. Across two experiments, verbalising the target’s appearance did not reduce correct identifications but consistently shifted response tendencies: participants produced fewer false identifications and more ‘not present’ choices. These outcomes support the criterion shift account, indicating that verbalisation alters decision thresholds rather than impairing recog nition memory, and align with large-scale replication findings. Post-decision confidence was higher for correct than false identifications, while confidence for rejections did not differ reli ably, echoing recent syntheses of the confidence–accuracy relationship. A timing manipulation (delay before vs. after verbalisation) yielded weak-to-moderate differences in effect size but did not alter the overall pattern. The results demonstrate that the criterion shift effect generalises to a Bosnian Gen Z cohort, with practical implications for eyewitness procedures, emphasising conservative decisions and immediate confidence recording.
Keywords
eyewitness identification; verbal overshadowing; criterion shift account; Generation Z; Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Hrčak ID:
347434
URI
Publication date:
15.6.2026.
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