ABSTRACT

There are two primary investigative interview objectives: gathering information to determine what happened and who did it and assessing the witness’s reliability. The present study examined to what extent investigative interviewers gather investigation-relevant information (IRI) compared to interviewee details (ID) to assess witness reliability. As part of a training course, 42 police officers participated as interviewers and mock witnesses by viewing a crime video. The interviews were recorded and rated for question type and question content through thematic analyses. IRI questions accounted for 78% of the questions asked, while ID questions accounted for 22% of the questions asked. The police officers assessed the way witnesses perceived this information and the attendant meta-processes and used more inappropriate questions than appropriate questions. These results help to elucidate the objectives of police interviews that should be considered when evaluating witness performances in laboratory settings and when developing effective interviewing protocols.

摘要

调查性访谈的主要目的有两个：收集信息以确定发生了什么，由谁进行，以及评估证人的可靠性。本研究调查了调查访问者在多大程度上收集了与调查相关的信息（IRI）与访问者详细信息（ID）相比，以评估证人的可靠性。作为培训课程的一部分，有42名警官通过观看犯罪录像带作为面试官和模拟证人参加了比赛。记录访谈内容，并通过主题分析对问题类型和问题内容进行评分。IRI问题占提出问题的78％，而ID问题占提出问题的22％。警官评估了目击者看待此信息的方式以及随之而来的元过程，并使用了不适当的问题，而不是适当的问题。这些结果有助于阐明在评估实验室环境中证人的表现并制定有效的采访协议时应考虑的警察采访目标。