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The Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability: Adolescent Version (START:AV) is a risk assessment instrument for adolescents that estimates the risk of multiple adverse outcomes. Prior research into its predictive validity is limited to a handful of studies conducted with the START:AV pilot version and often by the instrument's developers. The present study examines the START:AV's field validity in a secure youth care sample in the Netherlands. Using a prospective design, we investigated whether the total scores, lifetime history, and the final risk judgments of 106 START:AVs predicted inpatient incidents during a 4-month follow-up. Final risk judgments and lifetime history predicted multiple adverse outcomes, including physical aggression, institutional violations, substance use, self-injury, and victimization. The predictive validity of the total scores was significant only for physical aggression and institutional violations. Hence, the short-term predictive validity of the START:AV for inpatient incidents in a residential youth care setting was partially demonstrated and the START:AV final risk judgments can be used to guide treatment planning and decision-making regarding furlough or discharge in this setting. ispartof: ASSESSMENT vol:30 issue:3 ispartof: location:United States status: published

The assessment of performance validity is essential in any neuropsychological evaluation. However, relatively few measures exist that are based on attention performance embedded within routine cognitive tasks. The present study explores the potential value of a computerized attention test, the Cognitrone, as an embedded validity indicator in the neuropsychological assessment of early retirement claimants. Two hundred and sixty-five early retirement claimants were assessed with the Word Memory Test (WMT) and the Cognitrone. WMT scores were used as the independent criterion to determine performance validity. Speed and accuracy measures of the Cognitrone were analyzed in receiver operating characteristics (ROC) to classify group membership. The Cognitrone was sensitive in revealing attention deficits in early retirement claimants. Further, 54% (n = 143) of the individuals showed noncredible cognitive performance, whereas 46% (n = 122) showed credible cognitive performance. Individuals failing the performance validity assessment showed slower (AUC = 79.1%) and more inaccurate (AUC = 79.5%) attention performance than those passing the performance validity assessment. A compound score integrating speed and accuracy revealed incremental value as indicated by AUC = 87.9%. Various cut scores are suggested, resulting in equal rates of 80% sensitivity and specificity (cut score = 1.297) or 69% sensitivity with 90% specificity (cut score = 0.734). The present study supports the sensitivity of the Cognitrone for the assessment of attention deficits in early retirement claimants and its potential value as an embedded validity indicator. Further research on different samples and with multidimensional criteria for determining invalid performance are required before clinical application can be suggested.

We investigated how voluntary confessions, coerced-compliant confessions, and no-confessions influenced guilt assessments in combination with other exculpatory or ambiguous evidence. In three experiments (total N = 808), participants studied case information and provided guilt assessments. As expected, in Experiment 1 and 2a, (i) voluntary confessions to protect a family member elicited stronger guilt attributions than no-confessions and (ii) ambiguous evidence led to stronger guilt attributions than exculpatory evidence. In Experiment 2b, voluntary confessions to protect a group-member (but not to protect a family-member) elicited stronger guilt attributions than no-confessions. Exculpatory eyewitness evidence elicited stronger guilt attributions than exculpatory DNA evidence and participants assigned more weight to exculpatory DNA than eyewitness evidence. Participants were able to discount coerced-compliant confessions when they received information about the interrogations (Experiments 2a/b), but did not consistently consider risk factors for (voluntary) false confessions outside the interrogation room when assessing guilt.

Eyewitness identification procedures rely heavily on explicit identification from lineups. Lineups have been criticized because they have a considerable error rate. We tested the potential of implicit identifications in a Concealed Information Test (CIT) as an alternative. Previous experiments have suggested that implicit identification procedures might be suited when viewing conditions were favorable. In two experiments, mock eyewitnesses (Ns = 94, 509) witnessed a videotaped mock theft with longer or shorter observation time. We derived eyewitness identifications either implicitly from CIT reaction times or explicitly from simultaneous photo lineups. In Experiment 2, we also manipulated perpetrator presence. In both experiments, the perpetrator-present CIT showed capacity to diagnose face recognition, with large effect sizes (dE1 = 0.85 [0.51; 1.18]; dE2 = 0.74 [0.52; 0.96]), as expected. Unexpectedly, no moderation by observation time was found. In line with our hypothesis, no CIT effect emerged in the perpetrator-absent condition, indicating the absence of recognition (dE2 = 0.02 [− 0.17; 0.20]). We found no compelling evidence that one method would outperform the other. This work adds to accumulating evidence that suggests that, under favorable viewing conditions and replication provided, the RT-CIT might be diagnostic of facial recognition, for example when witnesses are hesitant of making an explicit identification. Future work might investigate conditions that affect performance in one, but not the other identification method.

Ross argued that false memory researchers misunderstand the concepts of repression and dissociation, as well as the writings of Freud. In this commentary, we show that Ross is wrong. He oversimplifies and misrepresents the literature on repressed and false memory. We rebut Ross by showing the fallacies underlying his arguments. For example, we adduce evidence showing that the notions of dissociation or repression are unnecessary to explain how people may forget and then remember childhood sexual abuse, stressing that abuse survivors may reinterpret childhood events later in life. Also, Ross overlooks previous critiques concerning dissociation. Finally, we will demonstrate that Ross misrepresents work by Freud and Loftus in the area of repressed and false memory. His article confuses, not clarifies, an already heated debate on the existence of repressed memory.

Public Significance Statement This meta-analysis shows that the Structured Assessment of Protective Factors for violence risk (SAPROF), a risk assessment tool that focuses exclusively on protective factors, can significantly predict the absence of violent behavior in an institution and after discharge into the community. It highlights the importance of adding dynamic protective factors to structured risk assessment to lower the risk of future violence.Although the inclusion of protective factors in risk assessment is believed to improve prediction, most risk assessment tools emphasize risk factors. In response, the Structured Assessment of Protective Factors for violence risk (SAPROF) has been developed, which focuses exclusively on protective factors and is used in conjunction with a structured risk assessment tool. It has received increasing attention from both researchers and forensic mental health practitioners, and additional versions have been developed for use with adolescents (SAPROF-YV) and sex offenders (SAPROF-SO). To assess their psychometric performance, we conducted a meta-analysis of validation studies. Our final sample included 39 articles with 5,434 subjects from 16 countries. Overall, the SAPROF(-YV/-SO) showed good interrater reliability and moderate-to-good predictive performance for the absence of recidivism and institutional misconduct. All three instruments exhibited incremental validity when used in conjunction with a risk-focused assessment tool. Our meta-analysis additionally showed that changes on the SAPROF are associated with decreased violent and general recidivism after controlling for baseline risk. We also uncovered several shortcomings in current research with the SAPROF(-YV/-SO). Studies did not report calibration indices and most studies were retrospective and limited to male offenders. The present findings provide support for the relevance of protective factors in risk assessment, but future research should focus on their hypothesized role in treatment and risk management.

In three studies, we examined whether beliefs in repressed memory and dissociative amnesia could be changed. Participants provided agreement ratings to statements related to repressed memory and dissociative amnesia. Then, they received a university course which included education on the science of memory. Following this, participants had to re-rate the statements. In Study 3, at Times 1 and 2, participants also received a case vignette on a therapy-induced recovered memory and rated several statements related to this case. Participants who received education on the science of memory were less likely to agree with statements endorsing repressed memory and dissociative amnesia-and participants were more likely to state that the case vignette involved a false memory. Providing education on the science of memory can help people (e.g., legal professionals, people from the general population) to use critical thinking on the topic of repressed memory and dissociative amnesia.

This qualitative study investigated which types of interventions are made by group therapists during group cognitive-behavioral therapy (GCBT) with individuals who have perpetrated intimate partner violence (IPV) in the "Not 'Losing It' Anymore"(NLIA) outpatient programs across the Netherlands. Audio recordings of group sessions (N = 60) facilitated by 13 co-therapist teams across 25 different groups were analyzed using the general inductive approach. Fifteen distinct therapist interventions were identified, categorized, and described using examples from the data. Two categories of interventions could be distinguished: CBT interventions and process-oriented interventions. In future research the coding manual can be tested for interrater reliability and might be used in research on the effectiveness of GCBT therapist interventions.

In order to prevent future child abuse, it is important to implement appropriate treatment according to risk factors present within a family. These principles are described in the risk-need-responsivity (RNR) model. We investigated 192 case files from Dutch child protective services on reported risk factors. We hypothesised that important risk factors (relating to parents and parent-child interaction) would often be absent from the case files. This expectation was confirmed, indicating that the RNR model cannot be used as intended. We provide recommendations to incorporate more evidence-based methods in child protective services.Risk assessment is an essential aspect of child abuse investigations in order to estimate the risk of future abuse and to develop a risk management and intervention plan. According to the risk-need-responsivity model, intervention and risk monitoring needs to target dynamic risk factors to prevent future child maltreatment. In the current study, we examined whether child protection workers in the Netherlands focus on evidence-based risk factors for child maltreatment. We investigated 192 case files retrospectively for risk factors included in the Child Abuse Risk Evaluation-NL, a structured risk assessment instrument. We expected to find limited information concerning parental risk factors and risk factors related to parent-child interaction, but more information on family and child factors. These hypotheses were confirmed. Because parental and parent-child interaction factors are the most important and proximal risk factors for child abuse, our findings point to a large gap between science and child protection practice. We recommend the use of a structured risk assessment instrument and a risk-focused approach to intervention planning.

In various countries, forensic scientists have begun to express their expert opinion in terms of the likelihood of observing the evidence under the primary and under an alternative hypothesis (i.e. the likelihood-ratio approach). This development is often confined to technical domains such as fingerprint analyses. In forensic psychological expertise, likelihood ratios are largely absent. In this contribution, we explain how forensic psychologists can employ likelihood ratios, and we describe two illustrating cases. We also present two studies in which we examined how (Dutch) professional judges appreciate psychological expertise framed in likelihood ratios. Findings suggest that judges ( N = 39) appreciate a fictitious expert witness report framed in likelihood-ratios similarly to an opinion framed one-dimensionally. Judges’ ( N = 79) understanding of a psychological expert opinion framed in likelihood ratios was satisfactory as measured by self-report and an actual test We conclude that, as is custom in forensic technical domains, psychological expert opinion can be expressed in likelihoods. Two of the hypothesised flipsides, namely, lawyers’ dislike of likelihoods, and their lack of proper understanding, may be surmountable.

Faulty eyewitness testimony can be a notorious source of mistakes in the legal system potentially leading to wrongful convictions and miscarriages of justice. The current study examined the knowledge of a sample of police officers (n = 270) and psychologists (n = 63) in Indonesia regarding factors known to influence the validity of eyewitness testimony given by adults and children. Previous studies have documented that police and psychologists in Western countries have less-than-optimal knowledge about the psychology of eyewitness testimony. Similarly, our non-Western sample also demonstrated a lack of knowledge that may be damaging in the legal context such as the belief that recall of minor details indicates accuracy of memory. For both adult and child eyewitnesses, the psychologists performed significantly better than the police but at the item level these differences were small in size. Intriguingly, we also found that psychologists were more likely than the police officers to endorse the item about repression of memories. The findings show the need for teaching on the psychology of eyewitness testimony for professional groups involved in the legal arena.

The proposed experiment will examine the effect of deceptive behavior on memory. Participants will be assigned to a “strong-incentive to cheat” or “weak-incentive to cheat” condition and play the adapted Sequential Dyadic Die-Rolling paradigm. Specifically, Player A (computer; participants think it is another participant) throws a die and reports it to Player B (participant). Then Player B throws his/her die, remembers the outcome, and reports it to Player A. Participants in the “strong-incentive to cheat” condition are monetarily punished if their die roll outcome differs from Player A's die roll outcome. Participants in the “weak-incentive to cheat” condition are not punished if the die roll outcomes differ. Two-days later, memory for the die-rolling event will be assessed. We predict that participants in the “strong-incentive to cheat” condition will have lower belief and recollection for the die-rolling event and will report more errors than participants in the “weak-incentive to cheat” condition.

In a comparable truth baseline (CTB), a knowingly truthful baseline statement is compared to a statement of interest, and deviations in verbal details possibly indicate deceit. In two experiments, we investigated whether a CTB can improve truth/lie discrimination when verbal details are coded by independent raters (Experiment 1) and when judged by naive observers (Experiment 2). In addition, we investigated whether lie tellers would calibrate their lies to match the detailedness of their baseline. Results showed no evidence of calibration. As expected, truths were more detailed than their corresponding baselines, while lies were less detailed. Significant differences emerged for spatial, visual and action details. Experiment 2 did not show that a CTB improved observers' lie detection accuracy. Taken together, our results showed that a deviation in details from a CTB may serve as a helpful aid in lie detection.

Questionnaire-based symptom validity tests (SVTs) are an indispensable diagnostic tool for evaluating the credibility of patients' claimed symptomatology, both in forensic and in clinical assessment contexts. In 2019, the comprehensive professional manual of a new SVT, the Self-Report Symptom Inventory (SRSI), was published in German. Its English-language version was first tested in the UK. This experimental analogue study investigated 20 adults simulating minor head injury symptoms and 21 honestly responding participants. The effect sizes of differences between the two groups were large, with the simulating group endorsing a higher number of pseudosymptoms, both on the SRSI and the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology, and scoring lower on the Reliable Digit Span than the control group. The results are similar to those obtained in previous research of different SRSI language versions, supporting the effort to validate the English-language SRSI version.

False denials are sometimes used to cope with traumatic experiences. We examined whether false denials can affect true and false memory production for a traumatic event and conversations surrounding the trauma. One hundred and twenty-six participants watched a trauma analogue video of a car crash before being randomly asked in a discussion with the experimenter to (1) respond honestly or (2) falsely deny that certain details happened in the video. After one week, all participants received misinformation about the discussion with the experimenter and the car crash. Finally, all participants were instructed to respond truthfully in a source memory task. Participants who falsely denied information during the first session were statistically significantly more prone than honest participants to omit details they denied and to report misinformation about what was discussed in the first session. Our work suggests that false denials of a traumatic experience might lead to both forgetting and increased false memory levels for earlier conversations about the event. ispartof: Memory vol:30 issue:9 pages:1158-1171 ispartof: location:England status: Published online

This special issue honours James Ost's (1973-2019) contributions to our understanding of false and distorted remembering. In our editorial, we introduce some of James' distinctive research themes including the experiences of people who retract "recovered" memories, social (e.g., co-witness and interviewer influence) and personality influences on false remembering, the nature of false remembering itself (e.g., different types of false memories; false memories vs. false beliefs), public understanding of (false) memory, and a historical link to the work of Frederic Bartlett. We illustrate these themes through a number of key publications. The unifying thread behind James' work is his core interest in false/distorted remembering in real-life (typically high-stake) situations, in line with his engagement with the British False Memory Society and his role as an expert witness in court trials. The articles included in this special issue elaborate on the research themes to which James devoted his career and his curiosity.

A suspect of a crime can avoid legal repercussions by creating a false alibi. We examined whether creating such a false alibi can have adverse effects on memory. To do so, participants watched a mock crime video and were either instructed to create a false alibi or to provide an honest account for what they actually saw in the video. After a 2-day and 1-month delay, all participants were instructed to come forward with the truth using a free recall task. Participants who initially created a false alibi had more commission errors after a 2-day and 1-month delay (vs. truth telling participants). Moreover, participants who created a false alibi reported fewer correct details after a 2-day and 1-month delay (vs. truth telling participants). Our study suggests that like other types of deception, creating a false alibi can elicit memory undermining effects in the form of commission and omission errors.

In forensic radiology, computed tomography (CT) is often used as a medical imaging technique to identify the cause and manner of death of deceased victims of a possible crime. In this study, medical imaging is used to examine concealed bodies and packaging materials. Medical imaging techniques, mainly CT scan, were used to scan packaged or concealed bodies inside containers to identify clues and evidence indicating whether a crime might have been committed. Also, scene integrity and scene safety along with a systematic search for relevant evidentiary items value were considered. Eighteen concealed bodies that had been assessed using medical imaging techniques between 2010 and 2018 at the request of the Dutch National Police were selected. The file records of each case contained imaging data, a photographic record of the unpacking procedure, a list of all items and traces found in the package, and the forensic pathology report. The images were assessed with respect to the different aspects of the case and through a systematic approach. The packages included adult males, adult females, newborn infants, and animals. All human cases were related to criminal offences. In nine adult cases, evidence of a possible violent death could be determined using CT imaging. The cause of death in newborn infants, however, could not be determined. In cases of dismemberment, the completeness of the body could be determined by CT imaging, and the cutting surfaces of bones could be matched on CT images. Regarding scene safety and integrity, in this study all relevant macroscopic items were detected on the CT images. The CT-scans were supplemented with fiduciary markers to better map CT data with the real objects. This information in combination with 2D and 3D images provided the forensic investigator with information on how to unwrap the package layer by layer and help determine different types of packaging materials. Different textiles could not always be identified. The orientation of the body within the packages was provided in all cases, and advice could be given on the optimal approach to access the contents. The overall detection rate of items was 78%. This is one of the first studies to illustrate the contribution of medical imaging, specifically CT scan, to the analysis of concealed bodies and packaging materials prior to unpacking. This demonstrates its contribution to a systematic approach of the investigation by ensuring the safety and health of the investigator while documenting and maintaining the integrity of the crime scene. Imaging also provides information that can be helpful to determine whether a crime might have been committed and reducing the risk of damaging a concealed body. Medical imaging also provides the forensic investigator with information to draw up a workplan prior to unpacking, minimising loss of evidence and determining whether different forensic specialists (e.g., digital or DNA) are needed. It is therefore strongly recommended to use medical imaging, especially CT scanning, before opening a package containing a concealed body.

Tactics recommended for rapport-building consist of verbal (e.g., finding common ground or shared experiences) and non-verbal (e.g., affirmations, displaying empathy) behaviours. Most of the research on rapport, however, has examined it in in-person contexts, where both verbal and non-verbal behaviours are present. In this study, we were interested in the effectiveness of rapport-building when conducting online witness interviews via chat, which de-emphasises the use non-verbal rapport behaviours, compared to traditional in-person interviews. Participants (N = 131) experienced a virtual reality (VR) scenario depicting a mock crime and were interviewed either in person or online via the chat function in Skype. Participants perceived rapport more positively when interviewed in person for three measures: attentiveness, trust and respect and expertise. Two other measures, cultural similarity and connected flow, were not perceived differently across interview medium. Participants interviewed online via chat disclosed similar amounts of crime-related information and were just as accurate as participants interviewed in person. We found that in-person interviews yielded better rapport ratings than interviews via chat but were equally productive in terms of the quality of information obtained, as measured by crime-related details and accuracy. If witnesses are to be interviewed via chat, investigators must carefully consider how to compensate for the lack of those non-verbal rapport tactics that influence witnesses' perceptions of attentiveness, trust/respect and investigator's expertise.

During police investigations, interviewees are sometimes forced to confabulate a response to questions for which they don't know the answer. In this registered report, we conducted a three-level meta-analysis to examine whether forcing people to confabulate an answer to these questions can lead to false memories for the confabulated details and/or events (i.e., forced confabulation effect). Results showed that forced confabulation indeed led to the production of false memories. Qualitative reviews of studies suggested that the forced confabulation effect is enhanced after receiving confirmatory feedback. Moreover, we found evidence that longer delays between the forced confabulation phase and the final memory task are necessary to observe the forced confabulation effect for entire events. However, caution is needed when interpreting the forced confabulation effect. Specifically, our moderator analyses revealed that voluntarily produced confabulation led to more false memories than forced confabulation. Also, our exploratory analysis indicated that the forced confabulation effect was mainly observed in within-subject designs. Taken together, our meta-analysis supports the notion that forcing participants to confabulate can lead them to later report such confabulations as part of the truth. Nonetheless, caution is warranted because this effect might be due to the introduction of misinformation through asking unanswerable questions. ispartof: MEMORY vol:31 issue:5 pages:635-651 ispartof: location:England status: published

Decades of research have shown that people are poor at detecting deception. Understandably, people struggle with integrating the many putative cues to deception into an accurate veracity judgement. Heuristics simplify difficult decisions by ignoring most of the information and relying instead only on the most diagnostic cues. Here we conducted nine studies in which people evaluated honest and deceptive handwritten statements, video transcripts, videotaped interviews or live interviews. Participants performed at the chance level when they made intuitive judgements, free to use any possible cue. But when instructed to rely only on the best available cue (detailedness), they were consistently able to discriminate lies from truths. Our findings challenge the notion that people lack the potential to detect deception. The simplicity and accuracy of the use-the-best heuristic provides a promising new avenue for deception research.

ObjectivesThe Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) is a commonly used clinical measure; however, it contains no method to assess validity of self-report. The primary objective of this research was to examine the possibility of cut scores on the BDI-II indicating possible invalid symptom report in forensic neuropsychological evaluations. Secondary objectives were to explore the utility of education specific cut scores and the effects of the criterion for invalid symptom report.MethodsTwo hundred and seventeen early retirement claimants (age range 19-64 years) presenting for forensic neuropsychological examination were considered for this study. Invalid symptom report was determined based on two independent self-report symptom validity tests. Further, all individuals completed the BDI-II as part of their routine assessment battery.ResultsIndividuals with invalid symptom report (30.9%) showed significantly higher BDI-II scores compared to individuals passing symptom validity assessment. ROC analysis supports the utility of the BDI-II to differentiate valid from invalid symptom report, AUC = 0.822, SE = 0.032, p < .001, 95%-CI = 0.760-0.884. A BDI-II cut score of 38 points reached a desired level of 0.90 specificity with 0.58 sensitivity. Secondary analysis indicated that the recommended cut score may vary depending on the educational level of the examinee. Further, results seem to be largely robust against the chosen criterion for invalid symptom report.ConclusionThe BDI-II appears to be a useful adjunct embedded validity indicator in forensic neuropsychological evaluations.

The foremost goal of conducting an investigative interview is to obtain as much accurate information as possible. To achieve this, investigators employ a variety of interviewing techniques. Kelly et al. (Psychol Public Policy Law 19:165–178, 2013) proposed a taxonomy interviewing techniques, grouping them into six domains (i.e., Rapport and Relationship Building, Context Manipulation, Emotion Provocation, Collaboration, Confrontation/Competition, and Presentation of Evidence). In this study, we focused on assessing the Context Manipulation domain (e.g., considering seating arrangements, time of day, clothing). Specifically, we sought to examine police investigators’ use and beliefs about the effectiveness of context manipulation techniques. A sample of 81 police investigators completed the survey. Our findings provide evidence that investigators believe the interview setting to have importance and are already employing some context manipulation techniques in their practice. Techniques mentioned most often were related to seating arrangement, investigators’ clothing, and item availability for suspects (e.g., water, coffee). This survey also provides evidence that investigators are receptive to using context manipulation techniques in their practice, despite how little they are currently taught during trainings. Understanding what context manipulation techniques investigators use and believe to be useful in their interviewing practice may have implications for future training, as well as for the (re)design of interview rooms.

Zusammenfassung: Polizeiliche Entscheidungsträger*innen und Ermittelnde in Deutschland erhalten regelmäßig Aus- und Fortbildungsangebote zu Methoden der Lügenerkennung und zu Vernehmungstaktiken für Beschuldigte, die teilweise unseriös sind. Keinesfalls sollten ineffektive oder ungeprüfte Methoden und Taktiken durch die Polizei angewandt werden, da sie gravierende Folgen für unschuldige Personen (z.B. Freiheitsentzug, soziale Schäden) und die Bevölkerung (z.B. weitere Straftaten durch die eigentlichen Täter*innen, sinkendes Vertrauen in die polizeiliche Ermittlungstätigkeiten) nach sich ziehen können. Besonders problematisch sind pseudowissenschaftliche Angebote, die nicht systematisch geprüfte oder nachweislich ineffektive Inhalte vermitteln, jedoch wissenschaftlich begründet scheinen (z. B. aufgrund des Titels oder der Berufsbeschreibung der anbietenden Personen). Dieses Positionspapier will diese Problematik beleuchten und Personen aus der polizeilichen Lehre und Praxis dazu anregen, Angebote kritisch zu prüfen und schwerpunktmäßig theoretisch fundierte und nachgewiesenermaßen effektive Methoden zum Einschätzen von Falschaussagen (z.B. anhand von Widersprüchen) und Konzepten zur Vernehmung Beschuldigter anzuwenden. Schlüsselwörter: Vernehmung; Täuschung; Geständnis; polizeiliche Ausbildung und Fortbildung; Pseudowissenschaft Abstract: Police decision-makers and investigators in Germany regularly receive training offers on methods for lie detection and interview/interrogation tactics for suspects. However, some of those methods and tactics are unserious. Ineffective or untested methods and tactics should not be used by the police, as they can have serious consequences for innocent people (e.g., detention, social damage) and the population (e.g., further crimes by the actual perpetrators, decreasing trust in police investigative work). Particularly problematic are pseudoscientific offers that provide non-systematically tested or even proven ineffective methods/tactics that appear to be scientifically based (e.g., because of the title or job description of the offering person). This position paper aims to highlight this issue and wants to encourage individuals in police training and practice to critically scrutinize offers and to focus on theoretically sound and proven effective methods for assessing false statements (e.g., based on inconsistencies) and concepts for interviewing suspects. Keywords: Interview/interrogation; Deception; Confession; Police training; Pseudoscience

Research has consistently shown people predominantly rely on undiagnostic nonverbal cues when detecting deceit, whereas verbal cues are more accurate. In three experiments, we investigated whether the simple instruction not to focus on nonverbal cues would make people focus more on diagnostic verbal cues and hence more accurate in detecting lies. Participants judged the veracity of true and deceptive statements and either received (1) no instruction, (2) the instruction to ignore nonverbal cues, or (3) to ignore nonverbal cues and focus on verbal cues instead. In the second and third experiments, condition 3 was changed to an audio condition in which visual cues were inaccessible. Results showed no effect of instruction on lie detection performance. Overall, we found no evidence that the simple instruction not to focus on nonverbal cues while judging veracity is an effective strategy to make people focus more on verbal cues or to improve lie detection.

In this pilot and exploratory study, we tested the robustness of three self-report symptom validity tests (SVTs) to symptom coaching for depression, with and without additional information available on the Internet. Specifically, we divided our sample (N = 193) so that each subject received either the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS; n = 64), the Self-Report Symptom Inventory (SRSI; n = 66), or the Inventory of Problems-29 (IOP-29; n = 63). Within each of the three subgroups, approximately one third of participants were instructed to respond honestly (Genuine Condition, nSIMS = 21; nSRSI = 24; nIOP-29 = 26) and approximately two-thirds were instructed to feign depression. One half of the feigners were presented with a vignette to increase their compliance with instructions and were given information about symptoms of depression (Coached Feigning, nSIMS = 25; nSRSI = 18; nIOP-29 = 21), and the other half were given the same vignette and information about symptoms of depression, plus two Internet links to review before completing the test (Internet-Coached Feigning, nSIMS = 18; nSRSI = 24; nIOP-29 = 16). Overall, the results showed that the genuine conditions yielded the lowest total scores on all three measures, while the two feigning conditions did not significantly differ from each other. Looking at the detection rates for all feigning participants, all three measures showed satisfactory results, with IOP-29 performing slightly better than SIMS and SIMS performing slightly better than SRSI. Internet-Coached Feigners scored slightly lower on all three measures than feigners who were coached without the Internet links. Taken together, the results of this preliminary and exploratory study suggest that all three SVTs examined are sensitive to feigned depression even in the presence of symptom coaching, both with and without additional Internet-based information.

The entactogen 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is increasingly being recognized for its therapeutic potential but is also widespread in nightlife settings where it may co-occur with crime. Since previous research detected impaired verbal memory during acute MDMA intoxication, understanding the drug's ramifications in an applied legal context becomes crucial. We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to examine acute and delayed effects of MDMA (75 mg) on false memory in 60 healthy volunteers with a history of MDMA use, using three well-established false memory methods: a basic, associative word list (Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM)) paradigm and two applied misinformation tasks using a virtual reality crime. Memory was tested immediately (encoding and retrieval under drug influence) and 1 week later (retrieval when sober). Small MDMA-induced impairments of true memory in the word list task were detected at both time points. MDMA increased false memory for related but non-critical lures during the immediate test, and decreased false memory for critical lures after a delay. Episodic memory assessed in the misinformation tasks was not consistently affected. Findings indicate a complex memory profile but no heightened vulnerability to external suggestion in response to MDMA intoxication. Recommendations for future applied legal psychological research include adding measures of recall on top of recognition, using study designs that separate the different memory phases, and potentially testing higher doses. Further research on false memories and suggestibility using imagination procedures can also be relevant for the clinical context. ispartof: EUROPEAN NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY vol:57 pages:59-68 ispartof: location:Netherlands status: published

IntroductionIn forensic settings interviewers are advised to ask as many open-ended questions as possible. However, even experts may have difficulty following this advice potentially negatively impacting an investigation. Here, we sought to investigate how emotions and psychophysiological parameters are associated with question formulation in real time in an ongoing (simulated) child sexual abuse (CSA) interview.MethodIn a experimental study, psychology students (N = 60, Mage = 22.75) conducted two interviews with child avatars, while their emotions (anger, sadness, disgust, surprise and relief), GSR and heart rate (HR) were registered.ResultsFirst, we found that general emotionality related to CSA and perceived realness of the avatars was associated with stronger overall emotional reactions. Second, we found that closed (vs. open) questions were preceded by more facially observable anger, but not disgust, sadness, surprise or relief. Third, closed (vs. open) questions were preceded by higher GSR resistance and lower heart rate.DiscussionResults suggest for the first time that emotions and psychophysiological states can drive confirmation bias in question formulation in real time in CSA.

People lie on a frequent basis. However, when a victim of maltreatment lies by denying the abuse, lies can become forensically relevant. We have reviewed the relevant literature on the prevalence and memory consequences of such false denials. The way forensic interviewers proceed in the face of denying children will be shaped by their beliefs about the frequency with which truly abused children deny abuse. We discuss that estimates of the prevalence of false denials among abused children vary but that such false denials do happen. When falsely denying children eventually come forward with their experiences, a second issue lingers: how valid are maltreated children's statements after a false denial? We review the literature indicating that false denials can negatively affect memory for the investigative interview during which the lie was told. Yet, memory for the denied experience itself seems to be mostly preserved, and some research even found potential protective effects of false denials. We conclude that denials should always be handled with care in the court room, since the ground truth usually is not known, but that statements should not be dismissed based solely on previous denials.

Sexual problems are common complaints across countries and cultures, and behavioral immune system theory suggests disgust plays an essential role in sexual functioning. The current study investigated 1) if disgust induced by sexual body fluids would reduce sexual arousal, reduce the likelihood of sexual engagement, and enhance disgust toward subsequent erotic stimuli, and 2) if the administration of ginger would affect these reactions. We administered either ginger or placebo pills to a sample of 247 participants (M-age = 21.59, SD = 2.52; 122 women) and asked them to complete either behavioral approach tasks with sexual body fluids or with neutral fluids. Next, participants viewed and responded to questions concerning erotic stimuli (nude and seminude pictures of opposite-sex models). As expected, the sexual body fluids tasks induced disgust. The elevated disgust induced by sexual body fluids tasks resulted in lower sexual arousal in women, whereas ginger consumption counteracted this inhibiting effect of disgust on sexual arousal. Disgust elicited by sexual body fluids also increased disgust toward the subsequent erotic stimuli. Ginger increased sexual arousal toward the erotic stimuli in both men and women who had completed the neutral fluids tasks. Findings provide further evidence of the role of disgust in sexual problems, and, importantly, that ginger may improve the sexual function of individuals via its sexual arousal-enhancing effect.

We reviewed articles that appeared between 2000 and 2018 and that addressed fantasy proneness as measured by the Creative Experiences Questionnaire (CEQ) or the Inventory of Childhood Memories and Imaginings (ICMI). We searched Google Scholar to identify relevant articles and used the Hunter-Schmidt method to meta-analyze the correlates of fantasy proneness. We identified 132 articles describing 139 samples that together included 24,007 research participants. Effect sizes were large (rs > .50) for hallucinatory experiences, magical ideation, perceptual aberration, dissociation, and excessive daydreaming. Contrary to the popular idea that childhood trauma is a prominent precursor of fantasy proneness, we found that the effect sizes for self-reported trauma were small, as was also the case for depression, anxiety, and memory illusions (rs < .30). Strides in this research area can be made when future studies move beyond the fantasy proneness-trauma link to test causal models regarding the antecedents of maladaptive fantasizing.

Stranger rape cases are one of the most difficult sexual assault crimes to solve for law enforcement. This study aimed to compare crime-scene characteristics between serial rapists and single-victim rapists in stranger rape cases and build a predictive model to predict rapist type. An archival database of released sex offenders included 385 who committed stranger rapes. Of those, 244 were single-victim rapists and 141 were serial rapists. The single-victim rapists were significantly more likely to have violently themed crime-scene characteristics than serial rapists, whereas serial rapists were significantly more likely than single-victim rapists to engage in criminally sophisticated behavior and induce participation from their victims. A logistic regression using 10 crime-scene characteristics correctly identified 75.8% of cases as perpetrated by either single-victim or serial rapists. The most significant predictors of rapist type were whether the offender digitally penetrated their victim, whether the offender choked their victim, whether they were at a new/unknown location or whether they threatened their victim. The implications of these results are that they benefit law enforcement in the investigation of stranger rape cases by potentially narrowing down their suspect pool and add to the classification of stranger rapists in offender profiling literature.

When patients fail symptom validity tests (SVTs) and/or performance validity tests (PVTs), their self-reported symptoms and test profiles are unreliable and cannot be taken for granted. There are many well-established causes of poor symptom validity and malingering is only of them. Some authors have proposed that a cry for help may underlie poor symptom validity. In this commentary, we argue that cry for help is a (1) metaphorical concept that is (2) difficult to operationalize and, at present, (3) impossible to falsify. We conclude that clinicians or forensic experts should not invoke cry for help as an explanation for poor symptom validity. To encourage conceptual clarity, we propose a tentative framework for explaining poor symptom validity.

The current study examined the effects of different delivery modes of misinformation on false memory creation in adolescents and adults. Forty adolescents (14-15 year olds) and fifty-three adults (over 18) were instructed to watch a video. Following this, half of the participants were given direct-with interaction misinformation, in which misinformation was delivered by the experimenter and participants (co-witnesses) were able to interact before their memory was tested. The other half of the participants were given direct-without interaction misinformation, in which they listened to a narrative read aloud by the experimenter, without interacting. Lastly, all participants completed a memory test. We found that participants in the direct-without interaction group were more likely to report false memories compared to the direct-with interaction group. Furthermore, adolescents endorsed more misinformation details than adults. Our results provide a new perspective about the role of social factors in the occurrence of false memories. ispartof: Journal Of Cognitive Psychology vol:33 issue:2 pages:1-9 status: Published online

Baselining - comparing the statements of interest to a known truthful statement by the same individual - has been suggested to improve lie detection accuracy. A potential downside of baselining is that it might influence the characteristics of a subsequent statement, as was shown in previous studies. In our first experiment we examined this claim but found no evidence that a truthful baseline influenced the characteristics of a subsequent statement. Next, we investigated whether using a truthful baseline statement as a within-subject comparison would improve lie detection performance by investigating verbal cues (Experiment 1) and intuitive judgements of human judges (Experiment 2). Our exploratory analyses showed that truth tellers included more auditory and temporal details in their target statement than in their baseline than liars. Observers did not identify this verbal pattern. Exposure to a truthful baseline statement resulted in a lower truth accuracy but no difference in lie accuracy.

In the present study, we used a new approach to establish the smallest effect size of interest (SESOI) for false memory research by asking memory researchers what they considered to be the SESOI in false memory research. They were presented with three hypothetical and three influential paper scenarios. These scenarios depicted studies examining the effects of certain manipulations (e.g., therapy) on false memory formation using well-known false memory paradigms: Deese/Roediger-McDermott, misinformation, and forced fabrication. Subsequently, they were asked for each scenario what they would consider to be the SESOI for practical and theoretical purposes and justify their decisions. We found that there was no clear consensus for the SESOI. However, memory researchers tended to accept smaller SESOIs or "any difference that leads to a p < .05," especially for theoretical ends. We argue that the lack of a general consensus is acceptable as long as proper justification is used. We discuss such rationales and provide recommendations for setting the SESOI.

In the Netherlands, there is currently no quality standard for conducting child forensic interviews in Child Protective Services (CPS) . The lack of such standard causes concern regarding the quality of these interviews, which are used to determine the child's safety and implementing treatment. In the current study, we implemented the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) protocol at Safe Home, the Dutch national reporting agency for child abuse and domestic violence. Professionals at Safe Home received a three-day training in the NICHD protocol with regular follow-up feedback sessions. We compared 38 NICHD interviews with 30 control interviews on variables such as the type of questions asked, number of reported words, and children's mood state. NICHD interviews contained more invitations and fewer suggestive questions compared to non-standardized interviews. Furthermore, children reported more information related to the reported incident when they were interviewed with the NICHD protocol compared to control interviews. After being interviewed, children reported a more positive mood state independent of how they were interviewed (NICHD or control interview). Finally, children interviewed with the NICHD protocol were less likely to succumb to suggestive probes provided after the interview than children in the control group. We argue that child protection professionals need training in an evidence-based interview protocol to improve fact-finding in CPS.

Rationale Studies have suggested mental health improvements following the use of the psychotropic plant concoction ayahuasca in non-clinical and clinical samples. Objectives The present observational study assessed depressive symptomatology in 20 clinically depressed patients (symptom score > 13 on the Beck’s Depression Inventory) before attendance of an ayahuasca ceremony and 1 month and 1 year after. Secondary measures included ratings of altered states of consciousness and ego dissolution during the ayahuasca ceremony as well as global measures of mindfulness, satisfaction with life, depression, anxiety, and stress. Results Twenty participants completed baseline and 1-day follow-up, 19 completed measures at 1-month follow-up, and 17 completed measures at 1-year follow-up. BDI scores reduced from baseline (M = 22.7) to all post-ceremony measures (Ms 11.45, 12.89, and 8.88, for 1-day, 1-month, and 1-year follow-up, respectively). After 1 day, 12/20 participants were in remission (BDI Conclusion Ayahuasca produces long-term mental health improvements in clinically depressed patients, which highlights its therapeutic potential.

Children who are involved in legal cases are often interviewed about events they witnessed or that might have happened to them. Occasionally, after such interviews, children are confronted with misinformation regarding their experiences. The question that arises is whether their earlier interviews may protect them from reporting misinformation. The goal of the present experiment was to assess whether empirically based interviewing by means of the National Institute for Child Health and Development (NICHD) Protocol would affect the reporting of misinformation in children. Children were involved in an interactive event (i.e., science demonstration). Following this, three experimental groups were created: one group was interviewed using the NICHD Protocol, one group had to freely recall what they experienced, and one group was not asked to retrieve any memories about the event. Next, all children received misinformation concerning the event and were then subjected to a final memory test. We found that children’s recall during the NICHD interview protected children against the incorporation of misinformation in their accounts of the event. This effect was absent in the other two conditions. The current experiment suggests that evidence-based investigative interviewing can inoculate children’s memory against the corrupting impact of misinformation.

Since January 2015, Safe Home [in Dutch: Veilig Thuis] is the national reportcenter for child abuse and domestic violence. The task of Safe Home and itspartner organizations is to stop child abuse and domestic violence. The Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) model states that to reduce the chance for harmfulbehaviors in the future, relevant risk factors should be addressed in individualcases. Offered treatment programs should also be attuned to these riskfactors (which is known as risk-based care). The offered risk-based care doesnot always correspond to the request of the family in question.In the current study the main question was how it is determined which treatmentprogram or care is offered by the municipalities to families after theinvestigation of Safe Home is completed and a case is transferred to the localmunicipality. We interviewed professionals from six municipalities in the regionof South-Limburg about the use of structured risk assessment tools andthe effectiveness of offered treatment programs. We found that the choicefor certain treatment programs is mainly based on the family’s request (andnot risk-based, as suggested by the RNR-model). Moreover, the municipalitiesmake limited use of risk assessment tools that meet scientific standards.In order to stop child abuse in the long term, a radical change is needed inthe approach of child abuse cases. We offer several recommendations, includingthe use of scientifically validated risk assessment tools and a closercooperation and exchange of information between Safe Home and its partnerorganizations.

The survival processing advantage refers to the finding that processing information according to its survival value improves memory retention. We used mass-testing across three experiments to examine whether the survival processing advantage could be extended to crime-related contexts when adopting both offender’s (Experiment 1 and 2) and victim’s (Experiment 3) perspectives. Interestingly, crime-related scenarios produced the lowest memory retention in Experiments 2 and 3, indicating no mnemonic benefit resulting from crimerelated processing. Furthermore, in Experiments 1 and 2, we failed to replicate the standard survival processing effect, while in Experiment 3 the superior survival memory retention emerged in comparison with the standard control conditions (i.e., moving and pleasantness). Overall, our experiments showed that crime-related contexts did not lead to superior memory retention. Moreover, although we detected some failures to replicate the survival processing effect, this evidence is not sufficiently compelling to argue that there was a general absence of the survival processing advantage.

The Self-Report Symptom Inventory (SRSI) was developed to expand the toolbox of self-report instruments available to detect symptom overreporting. Such instruments, today known as symptom validity tests, play a crucial role in both forensic evaluations and in a range of clinical referral questions. The SRSI was originally designed in the German language; items were selected from a larger pool on the basis of empirical results. Scores on the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology served as external criterion for the item selection procedure and empirical cut-score determination (gold standard). The SRSI is composed of five subscales describing potentially genuine symptoms and five pseudosymptoms subscales. Ten different language test versions have been developed so far. The article describes the background of the construction of the scale, the main empirical results with the SRSI, the conditions of use, and the limits of applicability. With research ongoing in several countries and with a variety of language versions, a larger body of empirical evidence can be expected to accumulate in the coming years.

Background and aims There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that the psychedelic plant tea, ayahuasca, holds therapeutic potential. Uthaug et al. (2018) demonstrated that a single dose of ayahuasca improved mental health sub-acutely and 4-weeks post-ceremony in healthy participants. The present study aimed to replicate and extend these findings. A first objective was to assess the sub-acute and long-term effects of ayahuasca on mental health and well-being in first-time and experienced users. A second aim was to extend the assessment of altered states of consciousness and how they relate to changes in mental health. Method Ayahuasca ceremony attendants (N = 73) were assessed before, the day after, and four weeks following the ceremony. Results We replicated the reduction in self-reported stress 4-weeks post ceremony, but, in contrast, found no reduction in depression. Also, increased satisfaction with life and awareness the day after the ceremony, and its return to baseline 4 weeks later, were replicated. New findings were: reduced ratings of anxiety and somatization, and increased levels of non-judging 4-weeks post-ceremony. We replicated the relation between altered states of consciousness (e.g., experienced ego dissolution during the ceremony) and mental health outcomes sub-acutely. The effects of ayahuasca did not differ between experienced and first-time users. Conclusion Partly in line with previous findings, ayahuasca produces long-term improvements in affect in non-clinical users. Furthermore, sub-acute mental health ratings are related to the intensity of the psychedelic experience. Although findings replicate and highlight the therapeutic potential of ayahuasca, this needs to be confirmed in placebo-controlled studies.

To learn more about why people falsely confess without external pressure, we examined voluntary blame-taking in three experiments. Drawing from theories of prosocial behavior and social identity, we investigated whether participants' blame-taking is influenced by (a) their relationship with the guilty person (Experiment 1) and (b) the group membership of the person asking to take the blame (Experiments 2a and 2b). In Experiment 1, participants (N = 130) considered whether they would take the blame for a small traffic violation for their best friend and a stranger in a vignette-scenario. As expected, intended blame-taking rates were higher for their best friend (60.8%) than for a stranger (8.5%). Reported reasons for taking the blame included reciprocity and empathy. In Experiments 2a and 2b (Ns = 60; 89), we tested actual blame-taking behavior in two field experiments, using a new experimental paradigm. An experimenter approached participants and asked them to commit insurance fraud for a broken camera. Participants who shared the same group as the person in need were more willing to take the blame (47%-48%) than participants who were from a different group (21%-23%). The most frequently listed reason for taking the blame was empathy. Implications for the occurrence of voluntary blame-taking behavior to protect someone else are discussed.

Memory experts are sometimes asked to evaluate the validity of accounts of witnesses, victims, or suspects. In some of these cases, they are asked what effect alcohol has on the validity of such accounts. In this article, we offer a guide on what expert witnesses can reliably say about how alcohol affects memory. We do so by resorting to effect sizes from previous studies and meta-analytic work, and address this novel question: Are these effect sizes meaningful in legal cases? More specifically, we argue that any determination of whether individual studies about alcohol and memory are practically relevant for legal cases, scientists must focus on the smallest effect size of interest. We make the case that a decrease or increase of only 1 detail, especially an incorrect detail, should be regarded as the smallest effect size of interest in this line of research. In line with this idea, we show that effect sizes in the alcohol and memory literature are often larger than this smallest effect size of interest. This finding is important because it implies that alcohol often exerts a practically relevant and meaningful detrimental effect on the reporting of both correct and incorrect details, which in turn negatively affects the validity of witness testimony.