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Minimizing extraneous, interviewer‐based interrogative suggestibility
Author(s) -
Boon Julian C.W.,
Baxter James S.
Publication year - 2004
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 - 10.1348/1355325041719400
Subject(s) - suggestibility , interrogative , interview , psychology , interpersonal communication , social psychology , interpersonal interaction , leading question , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , linguistics , philosophy , political science , law
Objectives. Previous work has established that interviewer demeanour can distort interviewee performance on the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales (GSS). The present study assesses the effect of reducing interpersonal interaction in the GSS procedure. Interviewees' interrogative suggestibility (IS) scores obtained under four conditions were compared with established norms for the scales to identify the method most likely to reduce the effects of interpersonal factors when using the scales. Method. Participants were allocated at random to one of four conditions: (1) standard procedure but with questions in writing (Written Questions), (2) condition 1 procedure plus written answer (Written Questions: Written Answers), (3) condition 1 procedure but with written negative feedback (Written Questions: Written Feedback), and finally (4) condition 2 procedure but with written negative feedback (Written Questions: Written Answers: Written Feedback). Results. A key finding was that the procedure used in condition 4, in which verbal contact between interviewer and interviewee was least, produced GSS scores most closely approximating established norms for the GSS. GSS scores were higher in the other groups, although the differences between the GSS scores of conditions 4 and 2 were not significant. Conclusion. The findings suggest ways in which the effects of interviewer demeanour on IS may be reduced. The potential usefulness of adopting new procedures for administering the GSSs is discussed, as is the potential for developing a computerized format for the GSSs.