An investigation of ‘don't know’ and ‘direct explanation’ response styles on the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale: A comparison of three different vulnerable adult groups

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate the relationship between ‘don't know’(DK) responses to unanswerable leading questions and a response that refutes a suggestion by giving a ‘direct explanation’ (DE) on the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS 2). The unique feature of the DE response style is that it involves effective source monitoring, a social cognitive mechanism associated with confidence and trust in one's memory, critical strategic thinking, and self-efficacy. There were four groups of participants, three involving vulnerable samples (i.e., unemployed, ADHD, intellectual disabilities) and a normal control group. All 203 participants completed the GSS 2 and great variability in response styles was found between these groups. The findings suggested that DK and DE answers act independently and are driven by different processes and mechanisms. The intellecutal disabilities sample yielded most to leading questions indicating their relative inability to activate strategic thinking. Heavy reliance on DK answers and a very low rate of DE answers, found in the ADHD sample, suggests a weakness in source monitoring skills and judgment. Individuals with ADHD are potentially vulnerable to giving misinformation during questioning when confidence in their memory is undermined by the interviewing strategy and/or by an inability to cope with repeated and lengthy questioning.