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Tall Tales Across Time: Narrative Analysis of True and False Allegations
Author(s) -
Peace Kristine A.,
Shudra Ryan D.,
Forrester Deanna L.,
Kasper Ryan,
Harder Jeffrey,
Porter Stephen
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of investigative psychology and offender profiling
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.479
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 1544-4767
pISSN - 1544-4759
DOI - 10.1002/jip.1421
Subject(s) - testimonial , suspect , witness , allegation , credibility , psychology , narrative , recall , social psychology , false accusation , statement (logic) , criminology , cognitive psychology , law , linguistics , advertising , political science , philosophy , business
Little consensus exists regarding how the details of truthful and false allegations of traumatic victimisation may change over short and long time intervals, yet this cue is utilised in the assessment of witness, victim and suspect credibility. The present study involved a narrative analysis of the details written within 147 sets of allegation statements across both short‐term (~3 months) and long‐term (~6 months) intervals. Overall results indicated that true allegations contained more consistent details, omissions and commissions, although the rates of change over time were variable. These changes appear to result from natural variations in memory and recall over time. However, direct contradictions (inconsistent details) were more prevalent in false allegations, and these claims were more stable over time, suggesting ‘script‐like’ processing. These results have implications for our understanding of testimonial alterations and how determinations of veracity are influenced by statement details. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.