Abstract
Four studies investigated lawyers’ concerns that the narrative style of police interviews with adult rape complainants reduces the impact of this interview as video-evidence. Study 1 (N = 96) compared mock juror perceptions of simulated evidence-in-chief either in traditional short-answer or narrative style and found testimony style was not a predictor of complainant credibility. Studies 2 (N = 104), 3 (N = 102) and 4 (N = 102) examined different variables that change with testimony style—the number of questions asked, overall testimony length and response length. The number of questions asked was the only predictor of complainant credibility; more questions resulted in higher credibility ratings. These findings suggest that lawyers’ concerns about narrative style interviewing are unwarranted.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 637-646 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Applied Cognitive Psychology |
Volume | 29 |
Issue number | 5 |
Early online date | 14 Jul 2015 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 2015 |
Keywords
- investigative interview
- cognitive interview
- eyewitness testimony
- credibility
- rape