Interrogative Suggestibility Research Articles

Interrogative Suggestibility Revisited: An Analysis of Its Mechanisms, Correlates, and Methods of Reduction

Interrogative Suggestibility Revisited: An Analysis of Its Mechanisms, Correlates, and Methods of Reduction

Interrogative Suggestibility and Ability to Give Resistant Responses in Children with Mild Intellectual Disabilities and Borderline Intellectual Functioning

Children with intellectual disabilities can be victims of crimes but are generally deemed less reliable in the forensic context than children without disabilities. Their deficits may cause inaccurate recall, greater memory errors, and greater suggestive vulnerability. The aim of the present study is to verify the effects of intellectual abilities on recall tasks, levels of suggestibility, vulnerability to negative social pressure, and Resistant Behavioural Responses (RBR). The study involved 120 children aged 7–16 years who were administered the GSS2 (1997) and Raven Matrices. Forty children had a diagnosis of mild intellectual disability (MID), 40 had borderline intellectual functioning (BIF), and 40 were typically developing peers. Children with MID and BIF showed more errors in distortions, inventions, and confabulations at the recall task and higher levels of suggestibility.Low IQs reduced the ability of source monitoring and led to less resistant responses to misleading questions. IQ affected resistant responses both at the first and second suggestive interview, reducing both source monitoring capabilities and the ability to manage social pressure. Age may impact the ability to provide resistant responses but only in the first suggestive interview (Yield 1), which depends more on the maturity of cognitive processes involved in interrogative suggestibility.

Evaluating autobiographical skills and their relationship with suggestibility in children: development and validation of the Children Recalling Autobiographical Memory.

Autobiographical narrative skills and resistance to suggestibility factors are central aspects in children's testimony. While the assessment of suggestibility relies on standardized questionnaire, no such an instrument exists to reliably assess autobiographical skills in children. This aspect is further important when considering that the development of such skills seems to be related to the suggestibility, that is, suggestibility would be reduced in presence of higher autobiographical skills. However, no direct test of this relationship is available in literature, also due to the lack of quantitative instruments for assessing autobiographical skills. To fulfill both these methodological and theoretical issues, in this study a new tool was validated to measure the main autobiographical narrative skills (Where, What, When, Who, and How) in relation to both Retrospective Memory and Prospective Memory: the Children Recalling Autobiographical Memory (CRAM). We recruited a sample of 321 children aged 7-16 years. The result of the EFA analysis showed one-factor model, and revealed also good fit indexes and internal reliability. After validating this new tool, we further used it to test our main hypothesis, that is, children with higher autobiographical memory skills were less vulnerable to interrogative suggestibility as assessed by Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale 2 (GSS2). A hierarchical linear regression model showed a reduction in suggestibility with age and level of autobiographical skills. Moreover, the level of such skills moderate the effect of age, such as only in presence of high or moderate level of autobiographical skills the age significantly reduces the level of suggestibility.

Immediate and repeat interrogative suggestibility in a sample of adolescents with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

AbstractIndividuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are more likely to be involved with the criminal justice system (CJS) than neurotypical individuals. Interrogative suggestibility is theorised to be a weakness in this population; this is the first experimental evidence of interrogative suggestibility in adolescents with FASD. Fifty‐two participants (aged 11–16 years) completed the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale immediately and after 1 week; the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children; and the Behavioural Rating of Executive Function. Compared to the control group, individuals with FASD were more vulnerable to leading questions, negative feedback and evidenced significantly higher suggestibility, immediately and after 1 week. A significant correlation was found between immediate and repeat suggestibility at 1‐week follow‐up. Poorer memory recall, lower intelligence quotient and higher impulsivity were also observed in the FASD population. The results indicate the importance for the CJS to establish whether suspects, witnesses, and victims of crimes may have been impacted by prenatal alcohol exposure since this is a significant source of vulnerability that could lead to false confessions or miscarriage of justice.

Critique of a measure of interrogative suggestibility for children: The Bonn test of statement suggestibility

AbstractProfessionals supporting child witnesses are concerned with susceptibility to suggestion, that is, the impact of suggestive questioning on the information that children report. The Bonn test of statement suggestibility (BTSS; Endres, The Journal of Credibility Assessment and Witness Psychology, 1997, 1, 44–67; Endres et al., Psychologie der zeugenaussage, 1998) is a measure of interrogative suggestibility. It focuses on the interaction between the individual child and their environment, which may make a child vulnerable to suggestion. We aim to examine the psychometric properties of the BTSS tool by critiquing the scientific construction of the elements and the robustness of the measure. We conclude that the limited available research allows for a tentative conclusion of suitable levels of reliability and validity. However, we propose that the BTSS should not be administered in isolation to determine suggestibility but instead there should be a wider assessment completed with consideration of the broader aspects of the child's individual situation.

Memory distrust and suggestibility: A registered report

AbstractPurposeThe study aimed to explore how memory distrust impacts two kinds of suggestibility: misinformation effect (Experiment 1) and interrogative suggestibility (Experiment 2). We verified whether recognizing discrepancies between personal memories and externally suggested information, along with certain individual differences, moderates the memory distrust‐suggestibility link.MethodsExperiment 1 (N = 306) followed a classic three‐step procedure with a discrepancy awareness test. In Experiment 2 (N = 316) a computerized version of the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale with a discrepancy awareness test was utilized. Both experiments manipulated the state of memory distrust and assessed participants' trait memory distrust, compliance, anxiety and self‐esteem.ResultsWhile the effect of memory deterioration due to misinformation and suggestions was replicated, the hypotheses regarding the relationship between memory distrust and suggestibility were not confirmed. However, for interrogative suggestibility, individuals induced to doubt their own memory were more susceptible to suggestions when recognizing inconsistencies between the story and suggestive questions.ConclusionsFrom the theoretical side, the concept of memory distrust appears to be useful to explain the reasons for succumbing to suggestions. However, our findings indicate that memory distrust toward committing omission errors and the experimentally induced state appear unrelated (misinformation effect paradigm) or marginally related (memory distrust state and interrogative suggestibility) to the tendency to yield to suggestions. This prompts further research using a different operationalisation of this construct.

Observation inflation and interrogative suggestibility: Different but related memory errors

Observation inflation and interrogative suggestibility: Different but related memory errors

Can Children Learn How to Resist Repeated Leading Questions and Social Pressures?

In forensic contexts, children who are victims or witnesses of crimes are repeatedly questioned using stressful leading questions and social pressure. The main aims of the present study are to verify the effects of repeated suggestive interviews on children’s level of suggestibility and resistant responses and to study how age and intelligence quotient may reduce the vulnerability of children. The study involved 110 children aged 10–15 years who were administered the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale 2, and 6 months later, the parallel form GSS1. Older children showed a significant reduction in levels of yielding leading questions in the second administration, while the levels of a shift in answers related to negative criticism remained unchanged. In older children, the age and intelligence quotients may reduce the effect of leading questions and improve resistant responses. The results showed that younger children maintain a stable suggestive vulnerability and constant use of the same strategies to cope with cognitive and social risk factors of interrogative suggestibility, while older children could reduce their levels of yield and use more resistant responses that defer to greater source monitoring and less adherence to external expectations. Children, when exposed to repeated suggestive interviews, may learn to cope with more cognitive aspects of misleading questions while being less able to handle social–emotional pressures. In forensic practice, these results may indicate how children, depending on their age, manage the factors of suggestibility during a testimony hearing and which resistance capacities they can actually use.

Ostracism and suggestibility: how temporary cognitive deficits drive suggestibility after ostracism

ABSTRACT Interrogative suggestibility has been suggested to grow in situations of isolation. The current study aimed to test this assumption for the first time in an experimental approach. We hypothesized that ostracism increases suggestibility, and assumed this relationship to be mediated by cognitive impairments or social uncertainty. To test these hypotheses, we conducted two studies. We manipulated the state of ostracism (vs. inclusion) using the O-Cam (Study 1) and Cyberball paradigm (Study 2), and measured suggestibility using the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale. Results revealed an indirect link between inclusionary status and suggestibility. More precisely, there was no direct relationship between ostracism and suggestibility. However, ostracism induced weaker cognitive performances and this translated to increased suggestibility. Social uncertainty, on the other hand, did not serve as effective mediator. These findings indicate that each situation that is accompanied by (temporary) cognitive impairments, as is ostracism, might have the power to raise interrogative suggestibility.

Reinforced self‐affirmation as a method for reducing eyewitness memory conformity: An experimental examination using a modified MORI technique

AbstractThe manuscript describes an experimental investigation of a technique that might reduce memory conformity: the reinforced self‐affirmation procedure (RSA). While previous studies have already demonstrated the RSA's effectiveness in reducing other memory distortions (e.g., the misinformation effect and interrogative suggestibility), this has not been tested in the context of the co‐witness memory conformity effect. To this end, we utilized the well‐known MORI technique to study co‐witness memory conformity under well‐controlled experimental conditions. While viewing different versions of the same movie, pairs of participants were sat beside each other, believing that they were viewing the same version. Next, they answered figurs collaboratively, which guided them to discuss conflicting details. Finally, participants individually took a recognition test, but in the experimental condition this was preceded by the RSA procedure, which was expected to be an effective way of eliminating the effect of memory conformity. Unexpectedly, this assumption was not confirmed. This result is further discussed.

The relative impact of different ‘resistant behavioural responses’ on interrogative suggestibility in children: The powerful contribution of ‘direct explanation’ replies to unanswerable questions

AbstractThe aim of this study was to investigate the different types of resistant behavioural responses to unanswerable questions, their respective individual contribution to the overall variance in resistance efficacy, and their differential protective effect on repeated questioning, interrogative pressure, and delayed suggestibility. The participants were 360 children aged between 7 and 17 years, 180 of whom were suspected victims of sexual abuse and 180 matched peers for age, sex and IQ. All children completed the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale 2. Delayed suggestibility was measured after a 1‐week delay. The findings show that ‘don't know’, ‘direct explanation’, and ‘no’ answers are unrelated response styles that have individual effects on resistance to misleading questions. ‘Direct explanation’ answers are most stable and robust and increase incrementally with age in children, whilst ‘no’ answers decline. The findings suggest that ‘Don't know’, ‘direct explanation’, and ‘no’ answers are driven by different cognitive and social processes.

The Science-Based Pathways to Understanding False Confessions and Wrongful Convictions.

This review shows that there is now a solid scientific evidence base for the “expert” evaluation of disputed confession cases in judicial proceedings. Real-life cases have driven the science by stimulating research into “coercive” police questioning techniques, psychological vulnerabilities to false confession, and the development and validation of psychometric tests of interrogative suggestibility and compliance. Mandatory electronic recording of police interviews has helped with identifying the situational and personal “risk factors” involved in false confessions and how these interact. It is the combination of a detailed evaluation and analysis of real-life cases, experimental work, and community (and prison/police station) studies that have greatly advanced the science over the past 40 years. In this review, the story of the development of the science during this “golden era” is told through the three established error pathways to false confessions and wrongful convictions: misclassification, coercion, and contamination. A case study of a major miscarriage of justice is used to highlight the key issues at each stage of the error pathways and it shows the continued resistance of the judiciary to admit mistakes and learn from them. Science is a powerful platform from which to educate the police and the judiciary.

Vulnerability to interrogative suggestibility from negative life events. A comparison of separated asylum-seeking youth and age-matched peers.

The consistency of young asylum-seeker's verbal testimony is often critical in determining the outcome of their claims. It is well established that an interviewee may change their answers to appease an interviewer or in response to suggestions. Experiencing adversity during childhood may increase vulnerability in such interview situations. Here, the vulnerability to interview pressure of asylum-seeking youth separated from their caregivers as minors was compared with age-matched peers. Thirty participants (16–23 years) completed the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS2, measures of negative life events (NLEs) and non-verbal cognitive functioning measures. Vulnerability to interrogative suggestibility, non-verbal cognitive functioning and number of NLEs was compared between two groups. This preliminary data showed asylum-seeking youth as significantly more vulnerable to Shift; changes in response to interviewer feedback. NLEs and lower non-verbal cognitive functioning were significantly more common among the separated youth increasing vulnerability to Shift. The implications are discussed.

Effects of post-traumatic stress disorder on interrogative suggestibility in minor witnesses of sexual abuse

Exposure to traumatic events in childhood may lead to the development of important clinical manifestations such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), often associated with internal defences of a dissociative nature. The present study aims to verify if and how memory tasks and levels of suggestibility are affected by PTSD in children called to testify in cases of suspected sexual abuse. One hundred and fourteen participants (children and adolescents) were recruited, of which 65 developed PTSD following the reported abusive experience. A greater suggestive vulnerability was detected in children with PTSD than in those who had not developed post-traumatic symptoms. Furthermore, the study assessed the relationship between immediate and delayed suggestibility and other symptomatic manifestations associated with trauma, such as anxiety, depression, anger and dissociation.

Interrogative suggestibility in the elderly.

Interrogative suggestibility (IS) describes the extent to which an individual behavioral response is affected by messages communicated during formal questioning within a closed social interaction. The present study aimed at improving knowledge about IS in the elderly (aged 65 years and older), in particular about its association with both emotive/affective and cognitive variables. The sample (N = 172) was divided into three groups on the basis of age: late adult (aged 55–64, N = 59), young elderly (aged 65–74, N = 63), and elderly (aged 75 and older, N = 50). Cognitive (i.e., Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test-2, Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test), emotive/affective (i.e., Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Marlowe–Crowne Social Desirability Scale, Penn State Worry Questionnaire) and suggestibility measures (i.e., Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale-2) were administered. In order to identify differences and associations between groups in IS, cognitive and emotive/affective variables, ANOVAs tests and Pearson’s correlations were run. Furthermore, moderation analyses and hierarchical regression were set to determine whether age, cognitive and emotive/affective variables predicted IS components (i.e., Yield and Shift). Finally, machine learning models were developed to highlight the best strategy for classifying elderly subjects with high suggestibility. The results corroborated the significant link between IS and age, showing that elderly participants had the worst performance on all suggestibility indexes. Age was also the most important predictor of both Yield and Shift. Results also confirmed the important role of non-verbal intelligence and memory impairment in explaining IS dimensions, showing that these associations were stronger in young elderly and elderly groups. Implications about interrogative procedures with older adults were discussed.

Coping Strategies, Immediate and Delayed Suggestibility among Children and Adolescents

Knowing the factors that influence children’s suggestibility is important in implementing the psychological variables to be evaluated during a forensic evaluation. In the interrogative suggestibility model, coping strategies intervene in determining the acceptance or rejection of the leading question. However, studies that investigated the relationship between interrogative suggestibility and coping strategies had mixed results. Avoidance-oriented coping is associated with high level to immediate suggestibility and problem-focused with low levels. In this study, we measured immediate suggestibility, delayed suggestibility, and coping strategies in a sample of 100 children. We hypothesized that avoidance-oriented coping strategies have a predictive effect in increasing immediate suggestibility levels, in particular avoidance-oriented coping oriented towards the tendency to accept leading questions. No effect of coping strategies was expected on delayed suggestibility. All children completed the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS 2), a non-verbal IQ test, and the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS). Coping strategies were not related to delayed suggestibility, but avoidance-oriented coping correlated positively with immediate suggestibility. Avoidance-oriented coping emerged as the only significant predictive model for shift and total suggestibility, and its subscale distraction emerged as a predictor for Yield 1 and Yield 2. No predictors emerged for delayed suggestibility. Results are discussed for their theoretical implications.

Attentional difficulty is a risk factor for interrogative suggestibility in preschoolers

Preschool children are particularly prone to suggestion. Here, we examined the extent to which temperament variables and internalising and externalising problems influenced preschoolers’ suggestibility. Children aged between 3 and 5 years (N = 140) completed the Video Suggestibility Scale for Children (Scullin & Ceci, 2001), and their kindergarten teachers completed two questionnaires: the EAS Temperament Survey for Children, and the Child Behaviour Checklist. As expected, age and free recall performance were both negatively related to susceptibility to misleading questions. Attentional difficulty was the only individual difference variable that added predictive value to this model. None of our individual difference variables were related to the extent to which children changed their responses in the face of negative feedback. We propose that attentional difficulties might be a particularly strong correlate of suggestibility when children are very young, and we outline the implications of this finding for forensic interviewers who solicit preschoolers’ accounts.

Memory performance predicts interrogative suggestibility better than global cognition in older adults with subjective cognitive complaints.

The present study aims to investigate to which extent global cognition and verbal memory can estimate interrogative suggestibility (IS) in elderly people with subjective cognitive complaints (SCCs). We used the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS 2) subscales (i.e., Yield 1, Yield 2 and Shift) as measures of IS. Data from a sample of consecutive patients (N=94) who referred to neuropsychology units for the first time were collected. Our results showed that verbal memory is a better predictor of IS than global cognition. Moreover, memory impairment led to significantly higher IS independently of global cognitive status. These findings suggest that the assessment of verbal memory allows to estimate individual levels of IS better than global cognition, even in elders with objective cognitive deficits. Implications for forensic assessment of senior witnesses are discussed.

Reducing interrogative suggestibility: The role of self-affirmation and positive feedback.

Interrogative suggestibility, as measured with Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scales, consists of an individual's tendency to yield to misleading questions (Yield) and to change answers after negative feedback (Shift). This study aimed to determine whether reinforced self-affirmation (RSA), a technique that aims to boost self-confidence in order to increase the tendency to rely on one’s own memory instead of external cues, can reduce interrogative suggestibility. RSA consists of self-affirmation induced by means of writing down one’s greatest achievements in life and of manipulated positive feedback. The efficacy of two kinds of positive feedback was explored. Shift was reduced by positive feedback relating both to memory and to the feeling that a person is very independent in their judgements, while only feedback related to memory reduced Yield. The results are discussed in terms of the different mechanisms underlying Yield and Shift. Inducing independence of judgements might not have been effective in the case of Yield because to some extent it taps opinions but not the quality of a cognitive process such as memory. An individual may believe in their own opinions and views but still be unsure about the quality of their own memory.

Reinforced self‐affirmation as a method for reducing eyewitness memory conformity: An experimental examination using a modified MORI technique

SummaryThe manuscript describes an experimental investigation of one possible technique that may reduce memory conformity: the reinforced self‐affirmation procedure (RSA). While previous studies have already demonstrated the RSA's effectiveness in reducing other memory distortions (e.g., the misinformation effect and interrogative suggestibility), this has not been tested in the context of the co‐witness memory conformity effect. To this end, we will utilize the well‐known MORI technique to study co‐witness memory conformity under well‐controlled experimental conditions. While viewing different versions of the same movie, pairs of participants will sit beside each other, believing that they are viewing the same version. Next, they will answer questions collaboratively, which will guide them to discuss conflicting details. Finally, participants will take a recognition test individually, but in the experimental condition, this will be proceeded by the RSA procedure, which is expected to be an effective way of eliminating the effect of memory conformity. If reinforcing one's own confidence reduces the plausible memory conformity effect, it may be then argued that the mechanism underlying this phenomenon is the participants' lack of confidence relating to quality of their memory. As argued in the present paper, these results will open up a set of interesting questions for future research.