Purpose. Research on real-life suspect interviews shows that disclosure of evidenceis a very common tactic and that it occurs in all phases of the interview. It istherefore remarkable that there is hardly any research on the effectiveness of differentdisclosure tactics. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of three differentdisclosure tactics: presenting the evidence early and two versions of the Strategic Useof Evidence (SUE) technique.Methods. For the SUE-Basic technique (SUE-B), the evidence was disclosed late inthe interview. For the SUE-Incremental technique (SUE-I), we used a stepwise disclosuretactic derived from the so-called Evidence Framing Matrix. The tactic consists of revealingevidence of increasing strength and precision. A mock-theft scenario was employedwith 195 participants who were randomly allocated to one of six conditions: guilty orinnocent suspects were interviewed with one of the three techniques. Two measures ofinconsistency were used as dependent variables: statement-evidence inconsistency andthe newly developed within-statement inconsistency.Results. By interviewing with SUE-I, strong cues to deception were elicited, especiallyfor the statement-evidence inconsistency variable. For the SUE-B, significant but smallerdifferences between guilty and innocent suspects were obtained.Conclusions. We found that both when and how the evidence was disclosedmoderated the effectiveness of disclosure. With respect to when, it was more effectiveto disclose the evidence late (vs. early), and with respect to how, it was more effective todisclose the evidence in a stepwise (vs. direct) manner. The tactical aspects of evidencedisclosure are discussed.

Purpose. Two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of (1) child victims’emotional expression during testimony and (2) the camera perspective used to recordthe testimony, on judgements of credibility.Methods. Law students (N = 155 in Experiment 1; N = 86 in Experiment 2) watched achild harassment complainant provide a statement in an emotional or neutral manner,presented using different camera perspectives: balanced focus (i.e., a shot portraying anequal focus on the child complainant and the interviewer) versus picture-in-picture (PiP; i.e.,a shot portraying only the child with an inset window depicting both the child and theinterviewer in the corner of the screen) in Experiment 1 and PiP versus child focus (i.e., ashot depicting only the child) in Experiment 2.Results. Although no effect was found for camera perspective, the results providesupport for an emotional victim effect (EVE); the child was perceived as more credible andtruthful when communicating the statement in an emotional (vs. neutral) manner.Moreover, the results provide corroborating evidence for the assumption that the EVErests on both cognitive (expectancy confirmation) and affective (compassion) mecha-nisms.Conclusions. These findings extend previous research by showing that the EVE and itsunderlying mechanisms apply to judgements of child complainants in the context ofnon-sexual crimes and appear to be robust against variations of camera perspectives.Legal implications are discussed.

Processlagstiftningsreformen En modernare rättegång (EMR) har inneburit en ökad användning av modern teknik i rättsliga förfaranden. Frågan hur rättspraktiker uppfattar att denna teknik påverkar deras bedömningar av exempelvis trovärdighet är inte minst därför högaktuell.

Rättspsykologiska studier har visat att förhör och förhörspersoner förmedlade genom ljud- och bilduppspelning (videouppspelning) eller ljud- och bildöverföring (videokonferens) bedöms som mindre trovärdiga och tillförlitliga än de som hörs på plats i rättssalen. De flesta av dessa studier har baserats på lekmäns bedömningar av fiktiva vittnesmål. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka rättspraktikers inställning till den moderna ljud- och bildtekniken, liksom vilken betydelse de anser att presentationsformatet har vid bedömningar av målsägandes tillförlitlighet och trovärdighet i brottmål. Studien utgörs av enkätsvar från 400 svenska rättspraktiker (poliser, nämndemän, åklagare och lagfarna domare).

Studiens resultat visar att respondenterna överlag var positiva till såväl videokonferens som videoinspelade tingsrättsförhör. Som fördelar framhölls att tekniken kan vara till stor hjälp för målsägande genom att reducera deras stress och öka utsagornas korrekthet. I linje med tidigare forskning menade man dock att de som hörs på plats i rättssalen framstår som mer tillförlitliga och trovärdiga än de som hörs genom videokonferens eller uppspelad video. Respondenterna beskrev förhör på plats i rättssalen som bland annat mer levande och känslomässigt engagerande. Resultaten diskuteras avseende likheter och skillnader mellan olika grupper av rättspraktiker och konsekvenser av teknikens tillämpning inom rättsväsendet.

Vetenskapliga tidskrifter som gömmer sina forskningsresultat bakom betalväggar har spelat ut sin roll. Nu har vi chansen att få 500 miljoner mer till forskning – bara genom att säga nej till tidskrifterna, skriver debattörer.

Öppna data från kliniska prövningar och andra studier gör det möjligt att utvinna mer kunskap, minskar risken för snedvridning (bias) och kan motverka fusk.

Krav på öppna data ställs nu av EU liksom av flera forskningsfinansiärer och vetenskapliga tidskrifter.

Meritsättning av öppna data är en delvis olöst utmaning.

This study aimed at extending the deception literature by examining lie-telling strategies given by persons with criminal experience. In interviews taking place in prisons, offenders (n = 35) provided lie-telling strategies in a free narrative style. In an inductive content analysis, we coded both all strategies provided as well as one principal strategy for each participant. In total, 13 strategies were identified, which were grouped into three broader category groups: general verbal, general nonverbal, and specific interview strategies. The most often stated strategies were Close to truth, Eye contact, and No strategy. The most often stated principal strategies were Close to truth, Not giving away information, and No strategy. Some participants provided strategies, such as not giving away information at all in interviews/interrogations, which showed a sophisticated understanding of the police interview situation and the task of the police and prosecutor. Overall, the participants showed great diversity in preferred lie-telling strategy. The results are partly in line with previous research from student samples and provide new insights into the criminally experienced individuals' lie-telling strategies. The results are discussed with regard to impression and information management and police interrogation practice.

Amount and quality of detail in recollections of past events are often studied in legal psychology. What, how much, and how accurate does a witness typically recall? How can we facilitate witnesses' recollections in police interviews? How can we detect deception? The overall aim of this thesis was to employ research with high ecological validity to investigate amount and quality of detail in interviews with cooperative adults. Study I investigated details in true and false confessions by 30 cooperative offenders in a within-subject experiment. The confessions concerned one crime the respondent had conducted and been sentenced for (true confession) and one crime the respondent had never conducted nor been sentenced for (false confession). Studies II and III investigated details in interviews with 95 cooperative adults about repeated dental visits. Study II was an experiment employing a within-subject design to investigate the effect of context-specific cues on recollection of repeated events. Study III further studied the data by investigating how five factors (interviewee age, rehearsal, interviewer, number of experienced events, and unpleasantness) affected two different measures of amount and quality of detail. Study IV made all data from Studies II and III, supplemented with a codebook, freely available in an online repository. Surprisingly, Study I showed very few differences in amount and quality of detail between offenders' true and false confessions. However, three detail measures could distinguish the true and false statements, which is promising for future research on offenders' statements. Results from Study II suggested that context-specific cues may generate more details about repeated events than cues commonly used in police interviews. Thus, mnemonics such as context-specific cues may, in the future, be a positive addition to current mnemonic techniques employed in legal practice. Study III showed that the two different detail measures were affected differently by all five factors (e.g., who conducted the interview did have an affect on one of the two measures but had no effect on the second measure). The results highlight the need for standardization of how we measure amount and quality of detail in research on investigative interviewing. The data from Studies II and III can be reused as data from an experiment (including both interviews, as in Study II) or as single interview data (including data only from Interview I, as in Study III). The data and material can be used for research and educational purposes. This thesis contributes to the ongoing methodological revolution in psychology by practicing transparent reporting, publishing the data for Studies II and III, and by raising the problem of using non-standardized procedures and measures in research on investigative interviewing.

Survey based research about self-reported incidents and legal investigations concerning sexual abuse, terrorism, and refugee status determination often involves reporting about self-experienced events that are similar to each other and has occurred repeatedly. Such repeated events tend to be recalled in a general manner and as a cluster of events. It can therefore be difficult for a respondent or witness to specify which individual episode a particular detail belongs to and to describe the individual episodes in detail. The overall aims of the present thesis were to investigate whether peoples’ memories of repeated events can be improved by mnemonics and how memory specificity should be measured. Two studies were conducted and both were based on interviews with 95 dental care patients about all dental visits they had made during the past ten years. Objective truth was established by analysing their dental records. Both studies employed two measures of memory specificity (number of individual events recalled and recalled amount of details about the events). Amount of details was measured by categorising the respondents’ utterances as generic, specific, or specific-extended in line with established coding procedures for measuring overgeneral memory. Study I investigated the effect of context-specific cues on peoples’ ability to remember individual events and details about the events. The main results showed that context-specific cues tended to be more effective for recollection of individual events than cues commonly used in legal practice. The context-specific cues did also generate somewhat more details than the comparison cues. The results imply that recollection of repeated events can be enhanced by mnemonics such as context-specific cues. Study II showed that the two measures of memory specificity (i.e., number of individual events recalled and recalled amount of details about the events) were influenced differently by all five investigated factors (interviewees’ age, number of experienced events, interviewer, perceived unpleasantness concerning the events, and how much the interviewee had rehearsed their memories). For instance, number of experienced events positively influenced the number of events recalled but had no effect on the amount of details. It was additionally found that the respondents often underestimated how many visits they had made. An important implication of the study is that future research should make clear distinctions between the two types of memory specificity. In sum, the studies suggest that mnemonics can aid recollection of repeated events, although the research on the subject has methodological issues that need to be resolved.

In 2012, Swedish dental care patients (n = 95) participated in a quasi-experiment in which they were interviewed twice about dental visits they had made between 2002 and 2012. For verification purposes, the participants' narratives were compared to the dental records. The qualitative data was quantified, stored as a .csv file, and supplemented with a codebook in plain text. All study materials are freely available online. The data can be reused to further analyse memory for repeated events. The data can be used both as data from an experiment (including both interviews) and as single interview data (including data only from the first interview, i.e., before the respondents were provided with memory cues).

Memory for repeated events is relevant to legal investigations about repeated occurrences. We investigated how two measures of specificity (number of events referred to and amount of detail reported about the events) were influenced by interviewees' age, number of experienced events, interviewer, perceived unpleasantness, and memory rehearsal. Transcribed narratives consisting of over 40.000 utterances from 95 dental patients, and the corresponding dental records, were studied. Amount of detail was measured by categorizing the utterances as generic, specific, or specific-extended. We found that the two measures were affected differently by all five factors. For instance, number of experienced events positively influenced number of referred events but had no effect on amount of detail provided about the events. We make suggestions for future research and encourage reanalysis of the present data set and reuse of the material.

Ninety-five dental care patients participated in a quasi-experiment in which they were interviewed twice about dental visits they had made during thepast ten years. Objective truth was established by analysing their dental records. The main purpose of the study was to investigate to what extent con-text-specific cues could facilitate particularization (i.e., recollection of events and details) of repeated and similar events. A mixed design was employedand the effects of three types of cues were explored: two types of context-specific cues vs. cues commonly used in police practise when interviewingplaintiffs. In line with our hypothesis, context-specific cues tended to be more effective for recollection of individual events than the comparison cues.In addition, context-specific cues generated more details than the comparison cues and the difference was marginally significant. Rehearsal of the memo-ries by telling them to others was associated with an increased number of recollected events and details. The results are discussed from a legal psychol-ogy perspective with focus on recollection of repeated abuse.

Background: Prospective foster carers undergo an assessment of their suitability. The two most common assessment methods in Sweden are the Original Kälvesten (OK) and the New Kälvesten (NK). None of them have been empirically tested. The present study offers the first scholarly insights into the NK method.

Methods: We were graciously allowed access from the founders to documentation of the method, including complete educational materials aimed at social workers (e. g., >8 hours recorded lectures). These materials were analysed qualitatively in a data-driven fashion with the purpose of describing and reviewing the NK method. Two semi-structured interviews were conducted with founders and educators to supplement the materials. In addition, 268 websites of licensed Swedish agencies conducting assessments of prospective foster carers were screened for mentions of which interview method they use.

Results: The interview protocol primarily aimed at measuring attachment style (38%) and attachment and affects (17%); 10% was claimed to measure affects; 10% mentalisation; 25% were not connected to any outcome measure. We found that NK, just like the OK interview, prohibits recording of the interviews. Instead, interviewers were instructed to transcribe interviews verbatim in real time. The transcript was read back to the analyst in a role-play fashion during which the analyst conducted a quick linguistic analysis resulting in a binary yes/no decision on suitability. Of 268 agencies, 114 named an interview method: 51% reported use of NK; 44% Kälvesten; 4% Casey Home Assessment Protocol – Fostering Challenges. 

Conclusions: The NK method was found to be unethical in at least six ways: applicants were exposed to deliberate stress evocation; they were rejected when risk factors occurred without considering protective factors; they were not provided adequate feedback; interview outcome was unsuitable for linguistic analysis; there was a high risk of interviewer and analyst biases; the method can be described as pseudoscientific. Recommendations for future research and practice are made.

Uppmärksamheten kring tvivelaktig forskning har lett till ökade krav på transparens genom hela forskningsprocessen. Psykologin har tagit ledningen för att genomdriva förändringar, skriver forskarna Rebecca Willén och Gustav Nilsonne, som ger en introduktion till öppen vetenskap (open science) och sammanfattar de främsta kraven som nu börjat ställas på vetenskaplig kvalitet.

The criteria used by Swedish courts for assessing credibility of plaintiffs' accounts were for the first time scientifically evaluated. Furthermore, unlike much previous deception detection research, we used offenders as participants instead of college students. False and truthful confessions by 30 offenders were analysed, and few significant effects were obtained. Truthful confessions were rated as having a higher degree of clarity than false confessions. Women's truthful confessions were rated as more credible than their false confessions. The offenders who were most experienced in being interviewed by the police gave a stronger impression of talking about something self-experienced in their false than in their truthful confessions; hence, it seems that offenders with more police interview experience have developed a kind of expertise in telling a convincing lie about crime. Overall, the criteria for credibility assessment used by Swedish courts had very limited usefulness in discriminating truthful and false confessions. A critique of the current status of evaluating statements in Swedish courts is provided.

Purpose. Deception detection research has mainly studied denials and distortionsgiven by students. This study examined true and false confessions as told by offenders.It was hypothesized that the statement analytic techniques Criteria-Based ContentAnalysis (CBCA) and Reality Monitoring (RM) would discriminate truths and lies.Methods. Truthful and deceptive confessions to crime were given by 30 offenders(both women and men) in a within-subject design. The participants were in prison at thetime of data collection, and told the truth about a crime they had committed and beensentenced for. In addition, they made up a lie about a different crime after a few minutesof preparation. The transcribed statements were scored for CBCA and RM criteria.Results. Results showed that neither total CBCA nor total RM scores differentiatedbetween lies and truths. Some individual CBCA criteria, however, showed differences:more self-deprecations and doubts about own testimony in the told lies, and more unexpectedcomplications in the truths.Conclusions. The results are discussed in relation to statement analysis of offenders’accounts, individual CBCA criteria, as well as the development of criminal experienceand familiarity with the event and setting. Implications for triers of fact and suggestionsfor future research are considered.