Abstract
Memory enhancing techniques, or mnemonics, are typically recommended in evidence-based investigative interviewing guidelines. In the current study, the use of a sketch mnemonic and its effect on the responses of truth tellers and liars was examined. Participants (n = 49) watched a mock intelligence operation video. They were instructed to tell the truth or lie about this operation in an interview immediately afterwards, and again after a two-week delay. In both interviews participants were requested to make a sketch of the place of the mock operation, and then to verbally describe the drawing. Results revealed that truth tellers reported more visual, spatial, temporal, and action details than liars in the immediate interview. Truth tellers also reported more spatial, temporal and action details than liars in the delayed interview. Truth tellers experienced a decline in reporting action details after the delay, whereas liars did not show a decline in reporting any details over time. Thus, truth-tellers showed patterns of reporting indicative of genuine memory decay, whereas liars produced patterns reflecting a ‘stability bias’. Between-statement consistency was not different across veracity conditions.
Highlights
To clarify how the sketch mnemonic was examined in the current study, we focused only on participants’ verbal descriptions of the drawings they made
We examined the effects of a sketch mnemonic on immediate and delayed statements of truth tellers and liars
Analysing the immediate descriptions of the sketch, we found that truth tellers reported significantly more visual, spatial, temporal, and action details than liars
Summary
In the beginning of the immediate interview truth tellers and liars were asked to sketch the layout of the community centre they broke into The participants made their drawing on an A3 sized blank sheet of paper. As previous research has found that active repetition of learned information can prevent memory decline (Bornstein, Liebel, & Sarberry, 1998), we asked participants in an open-ended question how many times they had tried to remember the break-in (truth tellers)/cover story (liars) between the two interviews. Participants indicated on 11-point Likert scales ranging from 0% (not at all) to 100% (totally) These two questions were asked twice to assess the truthfulness in both the immediate and delayed descriptions of sketch. The analysis revealed high ICC of .87 for reminiscences in the delayed vs. immediate reports
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