Does the type of prompt affect the accuracy of information provided by alleged victims of abuse in forensic interviews

By M. Lamb, Y. Orbach, I. Hershkowitz, Dvora Horowitz, Craig B. Abbott. 2007

109 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Forty-three victims of sexual abuse averaging 9.78 years of age and 52 youths who admitted abusing them were interviewed about the abusive incidents. Forensically relevant details provided by the victims were categorised as confirmed, contradicted or ignored by the perpetrators. Most (66.6%) of the details were ignored, but details were more likely to be confirmed when they were elicited using invitations (open-ended free-recall prompts) rather than focused prompts. However, similar effects were not evident with respect to contradictions. The results support predictions that information elicited using free-recall prompts is more likely to be accurate than information elicited using focused prompts.

Subfields: Cognitive Neuroscience, Gender Studies, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/5052bc6237016df07e582d7e6ceeb222a432d623

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Cognitive Neuroscience

1. Martine B. Powell
2. Mairi Benson
3. M. Lamb
4. I. Hershkowitz
5. Y. Orbach
6. Phillip W. Esplin

In Gender Studies

1. M. Lamb

In Social Psychology

1. Mairi Benson
2. Martine B. Powell
3. M. Lamb
4. I. Hershkowitz
5. Y. Orbach
6. Phillip W. Esplin

Citations in the corpus

• A structured forensic interview protocol improves the quality and informativeness of investigative interviews with children: a review of research using the NICHD Investigative Interview Protocol. (2007, background): “The findings obtained in these field implementation studies are important because, as noted earlier, details elicited using recall or open-ended prompts are more likely to be accurate than details elicited using more focused prompts in both field and laboratory analog contexts (Dale et al., 1978; De”
• Evaluation of a comprehensive interactive training system for investigative interviewers of children (2015, background): “the interviewer’s ability to elicit a coherent narrative account, minimise errors and create an environment where the witness feels heard, understood and not judged (Lamb et al., 2007; Poole & Lamb, 1998; Powell & Snow, 2007).”