Confidence and accuracy of lineup selections and rejections: Postdicting rejection accuracy with confidence

•CA relations exist for selections; confidence associated with single choice.•No CA relations for rejections; confidence associated with multiple rejections.•Manipulated whether selection/rejection confidence was based on one or many faces.•Multiple-face rejections not associated with a significant CA relation.•However, single-face rejections associated with a significant CA relation.

Correlation and calibration approaches show meaningful, positive confidence-accuracy relations for witnesses making selections from lineups, but rarely for rejections (Brewer and Wells, 2006 and Sauerland and Sporer, 2009). This disparity may reflect the difference between selecting a single photo versus rejecting a set of photos. Participants (N = 101) in two experiments made selections from and rejections of lineups in situations requiring either a single confidence rating about a single face (typical of “choosers”) or a single confidence rating about multiple faces (typical of “nonchoosers”). Mean confidence ratings were significantly higher for accurate versus inaccurate decisions for both selections and rejections when decisions were based on single faces. Single decisions about multiple faces produced no significant difference in confidence between correct and incorrect rejections but a significant difference for selections.