Witnesses' susceptibility to misleading post-event information delivered in a social media-style video.

In many criminal cases, outcomes rely on eyewitness evidence. Exposure to misleading information after an event reduces the accuracy of witnesses' memories. In some circumstances, warnings about misinformation can protect witnesses.

Open-ended initial invitations are particularly helpful in eliciting forensically relevant information from child witnesses.

Background: Open-ended prompting is an essential tool for interviewers to elicit evidentiary information from children reporting abuse. To date, no research has examined whether different types of open-ended prompts elicit details with differing levels of forensic relevance.

Objective: To examine interviewers' use of three open-ended prompt subtypes (initial invitations, breadth prompts, and depth prompts) and compare the forensic relevance of the information elicited by each.

The effects of episode spacing on adult's reports of a repeated event.

Witnesses' reports of repeated events have been the focus of much research; however, the spacing interval between each episode of the event has differed greatly. The aim of the current study was to determine whether spacing interval affects participants' memory reports. Adults ( = 217) watched one ( = 52) or four videos depicting workplace bullying.

Laypeople's perceptions of the effects of event repetition, reporting delay, and emotion on children's and adults' memory.

For crimes such as child abuse and family violence, jurors' assessments of memory reports from key witnesses are vital to case outcomes in court. Since jurors are not experts on memory, the present research measured laypeople's (i.e.

Factors influencing the perceived credibility of children alleging physical abuse.

Adults' assessments of the credibility of children's reports are affected by factors including the frequency of abuse, reporting delays and the child's age. The present study examined whether similar factors affect the perceived credibility of children reporting physical abuse, which is more common than sexual abuse. Two hundred and eight mock jurors read a simulated transcript of a child reporting physical abuse to police and made credibility ratings.

Mental context reinstatement improves adults' reports of additional details from two instances of a repeated event.

Remembering specific episodes of a repeated event can be challenging for witnesses. A mental context reinstatement (MCR) instruction increases the number of accurate details that adults report about a single (i.e.

Situational Characteristics Uniquely Associated With Children's Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence.

Exposure to parental violence can have devastating consequences for children, including significant personal, social, and academic problems. The present study determined the situational factors that are associated with children's exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) incidents. To examine whether these factors were unique to child witnesses' presence at IPV incidents, we also determined the factors that are associated with children's exposure to family violence (FV) and other family member witnesses' exposure to IPV incidents.

Challenges in translating interview protocols for alleged child victims of sexual abuse to different languages: A case study.

Adequate interviewing of alleged victims of child sexual abuse is critical for the investigation and for preserving the welfare of the child. Investigative interview protocols for children (IIPCs) have been developed to meet this twofold purpose. This article focuses on one previously unexplored issue related to applicability of IIPCs: how well they translate into other languages.

The effects of episode similarity on children's reports of a repeated event.

Much research has tested techniques to improve children's reporting of episodes from a repeated event by interviewing children after they have experienced multiple episodes of a scripted event. However, these studies have not considered any effects of the similarity shared between event episodes on children's reports. In the current study, 5- to 9-year-olds experienced four episodes of a scripted repeated event that shared a high (n = 76) or low (n = 76) degree of similarity, and were subsequently interviewed about individual episodes.

Other misconduct evidence in appeals against conviction in child sexual abuse trials.

Child sexual abuse (CSA) trials may feature evidence relating to behaviours beyond the charges laid. This 'other misconduct' evidence can add context to the offending and may relate to more than one complaint or victim, indicating a pattern of thinking and behaviour, or that multiple incidents are unlikely to be coincidental. Directions to the jury regarding such evidence are complex and error prone, giving grounds for appeal.

A Comparison of Responses to Substantive Transition Prompts in Interviews With Children.

This study examined children's responses to two alternate prompts used to transition to the substantive phase of an interview. Children ( N = 401) experienced four scripted events and were later interviewed. After rapport building, half of the children were asked, "Tell me what you're here to talk to me about today," whereas the other half were asked, "Tell me why you're here to talk to me today.

Characteristics of Successful and Unsuccessful Appeals Against Conviction for Child Sexual Abuse.

The current study investigated (a) the effect of legislative reforms and amendments to judges' directions to juries in the success of appeals against conviction for child sexual abuse and (b) the role of delay between the offence(s) and the trial in these appeals. Appeals listed in the Victorian Court of Appeal in Australia between 2004 and 2014 were identified. Data were extracted for a number of variables including the appeal's success and the delay between the first offence and the trial.

Legal Representatives' Opinions regarding Psychologists Engaging in Expert Witness Services in Australian Courts and Tribunals.

Legal representatives engage psychologists to provide expert witness opinions about a number of factors, including the psychological factors that may have contributed to the perpetrator's behaviour and the likelihood of reoffending. Although this evidence can affect the outcome of proceedings, little is known about how the experts who provide it are chosen or about the quality of their services. This paper explored legal representatives' reasons for engaging psychologists as expert witnesses, how they choose these experts, and their opinions about the expertise provided.

The Relationship Between Children's Age and Disclosures of Sexual Abuse During Forensic Interviews.

Children's disclosures of sexual abuse during forensic interviews are fundamental to the investigation of cases. Research examining the relationship between age and disclosure has shown mixed results; the aim of the current study was to clarify and extend our knowledge by modeling linear, quadratic, and interaction effects of age on disclosure. Child sexual abuse reports made by children, their caregivers, or mandated reporters over a 12-month period to police in one state of Australia were examined.

Professionals' Perspectives about the Challenges of Using Interpreters in Child Sexual Abuse Interviews.

Interpreters play a crucial role in many investigative interviews with child complainants of sexual abuse; however, little has been written about the interpreting process from the perspective of the interviewers. This study elicited interviewers' perspectives about the challenges of using interpreters, with the aim of understanding how investigative interviews could be improved. The participants consisted of 21 investigative interviewers and prosecutors of child abuse cases (from a range of jurisdictions) who use interpreters on a regular basis.

Identifying the characteristics of child sexual abuse cases associated with the child or child's parents withdrawing the complaint.

Most child sexual abuse cases do not result in a full trial or guilty plea; rather, case attrition occurs at earlier stages of the criminal justice system. One reason for the attrition of these cases is the withdrawal of complaints, by children or their caregivers. The aim of the current study was to determine the case characteristics associated with complaint withdrawal in child sexual abuse cases by the child or his or her parents once a report has been made to authorities.

A qualitative evaluation of the challenges faced by dieticians when interviewing children.

Background: Investigative interviewing is a critical and challenging skill involved in the assessment and design of appropriate interventions for children's dietary problems. The current study provided an evaluation of the challenges faced by professional dieticians when conducting child investigative interviews, in the hope that this would provide a framework for the development of further guidance and resources in this important area.

Methods: Fourteen professional dieticians were interviewed; they were asked about the information that they needed to elicit from children in particular situations and the questions that they would ask to do so.

Factors Related to the Accuracy of Self-Reported Dietary Intake of Children Aged 6 to 12 Years Elicited with Interviews: A Systematic Review.

Background: Understanding the relationship between children's dietary consumption and health is important. As such, it is crucial to explore factors related to the accuracy of children's reports of what they consumed.

Objective: The objective was to evaluate factors related to the accuracy of self-reported dietary intake information elicited by interview methods from children aged 6 to 12 years.

The Effects of Practice on Children's Ability to Apply Ground Rules in a Narrative Interview.

Despite the widespread use of ground rules in forensic interview guidelines, it is unknown whether children retain and apply these rules throughout narrative interviews. We evaluated the capacity of 260 five- to nine-year-olds to utilize three ground rules. At the beginning of the interview all children heard the rules; half also practiced them.

Current negative mood encourages changes in end-of-life treatment decisions and is associated with false memories.

To investigate the effects of mood on people's end-of-life treatment decisions and their false memories of those decisions, participants took part in two sessions. At Time 1, participants were experimentally induced into positive or negative moods. They decided whether they would want to receive or refuse treatments in a range of hypothetical medical scenarios, such as tube feeding while in a coma.

Retrieval-induced forgetting of performed and observed bizarre and familiar actions.

To investigate whether people show retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) for bizarre and familiar actions that they performed or observed, three experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, participants performed bizarre and familiar actions with different objects during learning (e.g.

Do people's motives influence their susceptibility to imagination inflation?

People are motivated to remember past autobiographical experiences related to their current goals; we investigated whether people are also motivated to remember false past experiences related to those goals. In Session 1, we measured subjects' implicit and explicit achievement and affiliation motives. Subjects then rated their confidence about, and memory for, childhood events containing achievement and affiliation themes.

Imagining nice and nasty events in childhood or adulthood: recent positive events show the most imagination inflation.

We explored whether event recency and valence affect people's susceptibility to imagination inflation. Using a three-stage procedure, subjects imagined positive and negative events happening in their distant or recent past. First, subjects rated how confident they were that they had experienced particular positive and negative events in childhood or adulthood using a Life Events Inventory (LEI).

False memories for end-of-life decisions.

Objective: To examine people's false memories for end-of-life decisions.

Design: In Study 1, older adults decided which life-sustaining treatments they would want if they were seriously ill. They made these judgments twice, approximately 12 months apart.

Memory on the beach: an Australian memory (and hypnosis) laboratory.

The memory (and hypnosis) lab at the University of New South Wales investigates a broad range of memory topics. We try to find innovative methods from cognitive and clinical psychology to address theoretical and empirical questions about memory. We aso use hypnosis as one major methodological tool in our investigations of memory (as well as other cognitive processes).