Premium
Using unexpected questions to elicit information and cues to deceit in interpreter‐based interviews
Author(s) -
Vrij Aldert,
Leal Sharon,
Mann Samantha,
Fisher Ronald P.,
Dalton Gary,
Jo Eunkyung,
Shaboltas Alla,
Khaleeva Maria,
Granskaya Juliana,
Houston Kate
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
applied cognitive psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1099-0720
pISSN - 0888-4080
DOI - 10.1002/acp.3382
Subject(s) - interpreter , interview , psychology , deception , social psychology , linguistics , communication , computer science , sociology , philosophy , anthropology , programming language
Summary We examined whether speech‐related differences between truth tellers and liars are more profound when answering unexpected questions than when answering expected questions. We also examined whether the presence of an interpreter affected these results. In the experiment, 204 participants from the United States (Hispanic participants only), Russia, and the Republic of Korea were interviewed in their native language by a native‐speaking interviewer or by a British interviewer through an interpreter. Truth tellers discussed a trip that they had made during the last 12 months; liars fabricated a story about such a trip. The key dependent variables were the amount of information provided and the proportion of all statements that were complications. The proportion of complications distinguished truth tellers from liars better when answering unexpected than expected questions, but only in interpreter‐absent interviews. The number of details provided did not differ between truth tellers and liars or between interpreter‐absent and interpreter‐present interviews.