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Interrogative suggestibility, confabulation, and acquiescence in people with mild learning disabilities (mental handicap): Implications for reliability during police interrogations
Author(s) -
Clare I. C. H.,
Gudjonsson G. H.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
british journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.479
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8260
pISSN - 0144-6657
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8260.1993.tb01059.x
Subject(s) - suggestibility , psychology , interrogative , confabulation (neural networks) , acquiescence , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , cognition , psychiatry , linguistics , philosophy , politics , political science , law
In order to assess a criminal suspect's ability to make a reliable statement, performance on three measures—interrogative suggestibility, confabulation and acquiescence—may be used. This paper presents preliminary data on these measures for people with mild learning disabilities (Full Scale IQ [FSIQ]: 57–75). It was found that they were more suggestible than their average ability counterparts (FSIQ: 83–111) because they were much more susceptible to ‘leading questions’. They also confabulated more and were more acquiescent. Overall, the data emphasized their potential vulnerability to giving erroneous testimony during interrogations.