| 1. |
- Adolfsson, Kerstin, 1988, et al.
(author)
-
Situational variables or beliefs? A multifaceted approach to understanding blame attributions
- 2017
-
In: Psychology, Crime and Law. - 1068-316X .- 1477-2744. ; 23:6, s. 527-552
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Are victim and perpetrator blame attributions affected more by situational-specific variables or observers’ basic motives and personal beliefs? In three experiments, varying the scenario setting, the effects of victim and participant age, participant gender, sympathy for the victim, trust in the justice system, belief in a just world and acceptance of rape myths were investigated. In total, 877 Swedish adolescents and adults read scenarios reflecting common acquaintance rape situations. Victim age (18 or 31) was manipulated, but did not affect attributed blame. Effects of participant age and gender varied markedly across the three experiments. Sympathy for the victim and acceptance of rape myths were stronger predictors than belief in a just world. Consistently, blame attributions were found to be more affected by personal beliefs than situational-specific variables.
|
|
| 2. |
- Dahl, Mats, et al.
(author)
-
Old and very old adults as witnesses: event memory and metamemory
- 2015
-
In: Psychology, Crime and Law. - 1477-2744 .- 1068-316X. ; 21:8, s. 764-775
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Older people constitute an important category of eyewitnesses. Episodic memory performance in older persons is poorer than in younger adults, but little research has been made on older persons' metacognitive judgments. Since more persons of advanced age will likely be called upon as witnesses in coming years, it is critical to characterize this population's metacognitive abilities. We compared event memory metacognition in old adults (66-year-old, n = 74) to very old adults (87 or 90 years old, n = 55). Participants were tested on their memory of a film, using questions with two answer alternatives and the confidence in their answer. As expected, the very old group had a lower accuracy rate than the old group (d = 0.59). The very old group, however, monitored this impairment, since their over-/underconfidence and calibration did not differ from the old group but they displayed a poorer ability to separate correct from incorrect answers (discrimination ability). Possibly, the very old group was able to monitor the level of their over-/underconfidence because they applied general self-knowledge about their memory skills. In contrast, the discrimination of correct from incorrect answers may be more dependent on ability to attend to the features of each retrieved memory.
|
|
| 3. |
- Hildebrand Karlén, Malin, 1984, et al.
(author)
-
The devil is not only in the details: gist and detail elaboration in intoxicated witnesses’ reports of interpersonal violence
- 2019
-
In: Psychology, Crime and Law. - 1068-316X .- 1477-2744. ; 25:4, s. 319-344
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The empirical base relating to alcohol’s effects on underlying memory mechanisms among witnesses is sparse. Therefore, the effect of alcohol intoxication on memory mechanisms was investigated, as well as how degree of intoxication and interview delay affected gist and detail elaboration in these witnesses’ reports. Participants (n = 136) were randomized to an alcohol group (men: 0.8 g/kg, women: 0.75 g/kg) (n = 70) or a control group (n = 66), given juice. After consumption, they witnessed an intimate partner violence-scenario, and performed tasks assessing memory mechanisms. Half of the intoxicated and sober groups were interviewed immediately. The remaining participants were interviewed one week later. Inter alia, intoxication decreased total gist recall and elaboration capacity. In general, high intoxication (BAC = 0.08–0.15) made witnesses report fewer gist categories, and also to elaborate them less, but there were differences in gist/detail elaboration between levels of intoxication due to emotional context. Less reported information among intoxicated witnesses was caused both by omitting parts of the scenario and to less detailed elaboration. Emotional context influenced reporting among intoxicated witnesses on a gist and detail level. However, intoxication had less impact on gist/detail-elaboration than did a one week delay before interview, suggesting that witnesses should be interviewed immediately, despite intoxication.
|
|
| 4. |
- Lidén, Moa, et al.
(author)
-
From devil's advocate to crime fighter : confirmation bias and debiasing techniques in prosecutorial decision-making
- 2019
-
In: Psychology, Crime and Law. - : Taylor & Francis Group. - 1068-316X .- 1477-2744. ; 25:5, s. 494-526
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This research examines the role of confirmation bias in prosecutorial decisions before, during and after the prosecution. It also evaluates whether confirmation bias is reduced by changing the decision maker between arrest and prosecution. In Experiment 1, Swedish prosecutors (N = 40) assessed 8 scenarios where they either decided themselves or were informed about a colleague's decision to arrest or not arrest a suspect. Participants then rated how trustworthy the suspect's statement was as well as the strength of new ambiguous evidence and the total evidence. They also decided whether to prosecute and what additional investigative measures to undertake. In Experiment 2 the same method was used with Law and Psychology students (N = 60). Overall, prosecutors' assessments before the prosecution indicated that they were able to act as their own devil's advocate. Also, their assessments while deciding about whether to prosecute were reasonably balanced. However, after pressing charges, they displayed a more guilt-confirming mindset, suggesting they then took on the role as crime fighters. This differed from the student sample in which higher levels of guilt confirmation was displayed in relation to arrested suspects consistently before, during and after a prosecution decision. The role of prosecutors' working experience is discussed.
|
|
| 5. |
- Lidén, Moa, et al.
(author)
-
"Guilty, No Doubt" : Detention Provoking Confirmation Bias in Judges' Guilt Assessments and Debiasing Techniques
- 2019
-
In: Psychology, Crime and Law. - 1068-316X .- 1477-2744. ; 25:3, s. 219-247
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This research examines whether judges’ pretrial detention decisions trigger confirmation bias in their guilt assessments. It also tests two strategies to mitigate confirmation bias: (1) to have different judges decide about detention and guilt and (2) to reduce cognitive load by structuring the evaluation of evidence. In Experiment 1, Swedish judges (N = 64) read 8 scenarios in which they either decided themselves about detention or were informed about a colleague’s decision. Then, participants rated the defendant’s trustworthiness, the strength of each piece of evidence, the total evidence and decided about guilt. In Experiment 2, Law students (N = 80) either first rated each piece of evidence separately and then the total evidence (structured evaluation) or only the total evidence (unstructured evaluation), and then decided about guilt. Overall, detained defendants were considered less trustworthy and when participants themselves detained, they rated the guilt consistent and total evidence as stronger and were more likely convict, compared to when a colleague had detained. The total evidence was considered stronger after unstructured than structured evaluations of the evidence but the evaluation mode did not influence guilt decisions. This suggests that changing decision maker holds greater debiasing potential than structuring evidence evaluation.
|
|
| 6. |
- Nordvall, Olov, et al.
(author)
-
Self-reported and performance-based measures of executive functions in interned youth
- 2017
-
In: Psychology, Crime and Law. - : Routledge journals, Taylor & Francis ltd. - 1068-316X .- 1477-2744. ; 23:3, s. 240-253
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study address three questions: (a) Do interned adolescents exhibit general or specific deficits in the core executive functions, as compared to an age-matched control group? (b) Do interned adolescents report more executive problems in everyday life, as compared to an age-matched control group? And (c) are performance-based measures of executive functions related to self-reported executive problems? Thirty-one interned youths and 40 non-interned controls participated in the study. To this end, we measured the three constituents (inhibition, shifting, and updating) of the Unity/Diversity model of executive functioning, as well as the participants' self-reported everyday executive functioning using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions scale. The interned group performed less well compared to the control group on the majority of performance-based tasks but did not show more pronounced deficits in any one executive function, reflective of a more general deficit. Compared to the controls, the interned adolescents also reported more dysfunction in executive behaviors related to the ability to inhibit action, behavioral flexibility, working memory, and the ability to follow through with tasks. Overall, correlations between self-report and performance-based measures were weak. These findings suggest that performance-based and self-report measures may assess different, albeit important, aspects of executive functioning.
|
|
| 7. |
- Nordvall, Olov, et al.
(author)
-
Self-reported and performance-based measures of executive functions in interned youth
- 2017
-
In: Psychology, Crime and Law. - : Routledge. - 1068-316X .- 1477-2744. ; 23:3, s. 240-253
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study address three questions: (a) Do interned adolescents exhibit general or specific deficits in the core executive functions, as compared to an age-matched control group? (b) Do interned adolescents report more executive problems in everyday life, as compared to an age-matched control group? And (c) are performance-based measures of executive functions related to self-reported executive problems? Thirty-one interned youths and 40 non-interned controls participated in the study. To this end, we measured the three constituents (inhibition, shifting, and updating) of the Unity/Diversity model of executive functioning, as well as the participants’ self-reported everyday executive functioning using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions scale. The interned group performed less well compared to the control group on the majority of performance-based tasks but did not show more pronounced deficits in any one executive function, reflective of a more general deficit. Compared to the controls, the interned adolescents also reported more dysfunction in executive behaviors related to the ability to inhibit action, behavioral flexibility, working memory, and the ability to follow through with tasks. Overall, correlations between self-report and performance-based measures were weak. These findings suggest that performance-based and self-report measures may assess different, albeit important, aspects of executive functioning.
|
|
| 8. |
- Oleszkiewicz, Simon, 1982, et al.
(author)
-
Gathering human intelligence via repeated interviewing: further empirical tests of the Scharff technique
- 2017
-
In: Psychology, Crime and Law. - 1068-316X .- 1477-2744. ; 23:7, s. 666-681
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Research on investigative interviewing has only recently started to compare the efficacy of different techniques for gathering intelligence from human sources. So far the research has focused exclusively on sources interviewed once, thus overlooking that most sources are interviewed multiple times. The present study attempts to remedy this gap in the literature. Students (N = 66) took on the role of semi-cooperative sources, holding incomplete information about an upcoming terrorist attack. The sources were informed that they would be interviewed at least once, and that additional interviews might follow. Half of the sources were interviewed on three occasions with the Scharff technique (consisting of five tactics), and the other half was interviewed on three occasions using the so-called direct approach (i.e. openended and specific questions). Collapsing the outcome over the three interviews, the Scharff technique resulted in significantly more new information compared to the direct approach. Furthermore, sources interviewed by the direct approach overestimated how much new information they had revealed, whereas the sources interviewed by the Scharff technique underestimated their contribution (although not significantly so). The current study advances previous research by further contextualizing the tests of the efficacy of human intelligence gathering techniques.
|
|
| 9. |
- Roos Af Hjelmsäter, Emma, 1976, et al.
(author)
-
The effect of odour reinstatement on children's episodic memory
- 2015
-
In: Psychology, Crime and Law. - 1068-316X .- 1477-2744. ; 21:5, s. 471-481
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Children's memory reports are often sparse, which increases the need for efficient interview methods. The present study investigated whether odour reinstatement can aid children's memory and increase the amount of information recalled from an experienced event. Children (N = 106, mean age 10 years, 8 months) experienced a magic show where a vanilla odour was present and were interviewed about their memory of the event either one week, or six months, after the magic show. During the interview, half of the children re-experienced the same vanilla odour. In contrast to studies on adult participants, no odour-reinstatement effect was found with the child participants in the present study. On the other hand, odour reinstatement reduced the children's ratings of how strong their emotions were during the event. Thus, odour reinstatement may affect different forensically relevant factors, and this should be considered in future research.
|
|
| 10. |
- van Veldhuizen, Tanja, 1990, et al.
(author)
-
The provenance of émigrés: the validity of measuring knowledge of places
- 2017
-
In: Psychology, Crime and Law. - 1068-316X .- 1477-2744. ; 23:6, s. 553-574
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis GroupEstablishing the origin of those seeking asylum is essential but difficult as asylum seekers often cannot corroborate their origin claim with documents. The aim of the present study was to assess whether asking knowledge questions, sketch questions and impossible questions are valid methods to determine the veracity of an origin claim. Participants (N=105) from Tilburg (truth-tellers), Maastricht (partial liars) and Gothenburg (full liars) were asked to convince an interviewer that they originated from Tilburg. Half of them prepared and half of them did not prepare themselves for the interview. They were asked 10 knowledge questions typically asked to assess the credibility of origin claims, 4 impossible questions and 1 sketch question. Participants from Tilburg answered more questions correctly than participants from Maastricht and Gothenburg. Performance also improved with preparation. Even though the results did provide some support for the validity of assessing claims about origin by asking knowledge questions, the differences between the groups were modest, and it was impossible to correctly identify all truth-tellers and liars. Changing the output modality from verbal answering to sketching contributed to the credibility assessment of origin claims, whereas impossible questions were not discriminatory.
|
|
