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Advancing legal literacy: The effect of listenability on the comprehension of interrogation rights
Author(s) -
Snook Brent,
Luther Kirk,
Eastwood Joseph,
Collins Ryan,
Evans Sarah
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
legal and criminological psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.65
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 2044-8333
pISSN - 1355-3259
DOI - 10.1111/lcrp.12053
Subject(s) - interrogation , comprehension , recall , psychology , literacy , social psychology , cognitive psychology , law , political science , pedagogy , computer science , programming language
Purpose To examine the effect of listenability features on the comprehension of interrogation rights. Method In Experiment 1, students ( N = 76) underwent a mock interrogation where one of two police cautions (listenable caution vs. standard caution) was administered and students were asked to explain the caution in their own words. Experiment 2 ( N = 80) extended Experiment 1 by identifying the individual and additive effects of the listenability features on recall of their interrogation rights. Results The results of Experiment 1 showed that the caution containing listenability features produced higher levels of recall than a standard caution. Results of Experiment 2 showed that repeating and organizing interrogation rights led to the greatest number of legal rights being comprehended. Conclusions Listenability can be used as a tool to increase legal literacy.