Police suspect interviews with autistic adults: The impact of truth telling versus deception on testimony
Investigative interviews by police are socially and cognitively demanding encounters, likely presenting significant challenges to those on the autism spectrum. Behavioral and communication differences mean that autistic people may also be more likely to be perceived as deceptive in the context of an...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1117415/full |
| _version_ | 1797864220955508736 |
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| author | Ralph Bagnall Aimee Cadman Ailsa Russell Mark Brosnan Marco Otte Katie L. Maras |
| author_facet | Ralph Bagnall Aimee Cadman Ailsa Russell Mark Brosnan Marco Otte Katie L. Maras |
| author_sort | Ralph Bagnall |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Investigative interviews by police are socially and cognitively demanding encounters, likely presenting significant challenges to those on the autism spectrum. Behavioral and communication differences mean that autistic people may also be more likely to be perceived as deceptive in the context of an investigative interview. In the present study, 32 autistic and 33 (age and IQ-matched) non-autistic adults took part in a novel virtual burglary scenario in either an ‘innocent’ or ‘guilty’ condition. In a subsequent mock-police interview, innocent suspects were instructed to tell the truth about what they did, while guilty suspects were instructed to lie in order to convince the interviewer of their innocence. In the mock-interviews, innocent autistic mock-suspects reported fewer details that would support their innocence than non-autistic mock-suspects, although both innocent and guilty autistic and non-autistic mock-suspects reported similar levels of investigation-relevant information and had similar levels of statement-evidence consistency. In post-interview questionnaires, innocent and guilty autistic mock-suspects self-reported greater difficulty in understanding interview questions, higher anxiety and perceived the interview as less supportive than non-autistic participants. Implications for investigative interviewing with autistic suspects and cues to deception are discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T22:49:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-777f945303a84b6585f32d1292f05019 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T22:49:24Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-777f945303a84b6585f32d1292f050192023-03-22T11:42:20ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782023-03-011410.3389/fpsyg.2023.11174151117415Police suspect interviews with autistic adults: The impact of truth telling versus deception on testimonyRalph Bagnall0Aimee Cadman1Ailsa Russell2Mark Brosnan3Marco Otte4Katie L. Maras5Centre for Applied Autism Research, Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, United KingdomCentre for Applied Autism Research, Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, United KingdomCentre for Applied Autism Research, Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, United KingdomCentre for Applied Autism Research, Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, United KingdomVrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NetherlandsCentre for Applied Autism Research, Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, United KingdomInvestigative interviews by police are socially and cognitively demanding encounters, likely presenting significant challenges to those on the autism spectrum. Behavioral and communication differences mean that autistic people may also be more likely to be perceived as deceptive in the context of an investigative interview. In the present study, 32 autistic and 33 (age and IQ-matched) non-autistic adults took part in a novel virtual burglary scenario in either an ‘innocent’ or ‘guilty’ condition. In a subsequent mock-police interview, innocent suspects were instructed to tell the truth about what they did, while guilty suspects were instructed to lie in order to convince the interviewer of their innocence. In the mock-interviews, innocent autistic mock-suspects reported fewer details that would support their innocence than non-autistic mock-suspects, although both innocent and guilty autistic and non-autistic mock-suspects reported similar levels of investigation-relevant information and had similar levels of statement-evidence consistency. In post-interview questionnaires, innocent and guilty autistic mock-suspects self-reported greater difficulty in understanding interview questions, higher anxiety and perceived the interview as less supportive than non-autistic participants. Implications for investigative interviewing with autistic suspects and cues to deception are discussed.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1117415/fullinvestigative interviewingautism (ASD)deceptionsocial perceptionvirtual environment |
| spellingShingle | Ralph Bagnall Aimee Cadman Ailsa Russell Mark Brosnan Marco Otte Katie L. Maras Police suspect interviews with autistic adults: The impact of truth telling versus deception on testimony Frontiers in Psychology investigative interviewing autism (ASD) deception social perception virtual environment |
| title | Police suspect interviews with autistic adults: The impact of truth telling versus deception on testimony |
| title_full | Police suspect interviews with autistic adults: The impact of truth telling versus deception on testimony |
| title_fullStr | Police suspect interviews with autistic adults: The impact of truth telling versus deception on testimony |
| title_full_unstemmed | Police suspect interviews with autistic adults: The impact of truth telling versus deception on testimony |
| title_short | Police suspect interviews with autistic adults: The impact of truth telling versus deception on testimony |
| title_sort | police suspect interviews with autistic adults the impact of truth telling versus deception on testimony |
| topic | investigative interviewing autism (ASD) deception social perception virtual environment |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1117415/full |
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