Julie Cherryman

Attitudes towards animal use and belief in animal mind

Abstract Animals are used by humans in many ways, yet science has paid little attention to the study of human–animal relationships (Melson 2002). In the present study, participants (n= 96) completed a questionnaire on attitudes towards animal use, and individual differences were examined to determine which characteristics might underlie these attitudes (“belief in animal mind,” age, gender, experience of animals, vegetarianism, political stance, and living area). It emerged that participants held different views for different types of animal use, and that belief in animal mind (BAM) was a powerful and consistent predictor of these attitudes, with BAM together with gender and vegetarianism predicting up to 37% of the variance in attitudes towards animal use. Thus, future research should acknowledge the importance of BAM as a major underlying factor of attitudes towards animal use, and should also distinguish between different types of animal use when measuring attitudes. We propose that the large effect of BAM might be due to increasing interest in animal mind over the past decade.

What really happens in police interviews of suspects? Tactics and confessions

Abstract There exists very limited published research on what actually happens during police interviews with suspects, and the research which does exist has identified a number of weaknesses. In attempts to remedy this, some governments have brought in legislative changes and some police forces have sought to improve their training. The present study examined the extent to which a number of psychological tactics identified in the literature were actually used by a major police force in England. Audio tape recordings of interviews were assessed by a number of forensic psychologists. It was found that coercive tactics were used very infrequently but that tactics concerned with the seeking of information were common. There were relatively few correlations between (i) the extent to which suspects changed ‘position’ from denial toward confession and (ii) the degree of usage of each of the 17 tactics. Most of the tactics had a stronger degree of usage in interviews in which the suspects continued to deny/never confessed. The relationships between these findings and changes in relevant legislation and training are discussed.

Police interviews with suspected child sex offenders: does use of empathy and question type influence the amount of investigation relevant information obtained?

Abstract Using transcripts of 26 real-life interviews with suspected child sex offenders from England, this study examined the use of empathy and the impact of question type on the amount of investigation relevant information (IRI) obtained. There were no significant differences in the amount of IRI obtained in the interviews as a function of the use of empathy by police officers. The mean proportion of inappropriate questions was significantly higher than the mean proportion of appropriate questions and, as hypothesized, the responses to appropriate questions contained significantly more items of IRI than responses to inappropriate questions.

A question of control? the formulation of suspect and witness interview question strategies by advanced interviewers

All investigative interviews are dialogues set within a legal context specific to an individual country or jurisdiction. Nevertheless, the need to ask questions appropriately is common to every interview, if reliable information is to be obtained. Despite this fact, published research has frequently reported a lack of skill in both the types of questions used by interviewers and the manner in which they are asked. However, during a recent quantitative evaluation of an advanced interview training programme in the UK, it was observed that graduates of this programme, in contrast to previous research, appeared to employ highly structured questioning strategies, methodically covering relevant subject matter across the complete time-span of an interview. The current study is a follow-up study using an alternative qualitative methodology for a deeper exploration of the rationale behind the formation of these questioning strategies. Using ‘think-aloud’ techniques, two independent groups of police officers (n = 9) with advanced training in interviewing of either suspects or witnesses were individually interviewed about how they had structured their questioning during two phases of a simulated interview conducted on a training course. The results confirm, first, the high level of conscious decision-making employed by the advanced interviewers in formulating their question strategies, but secondly, identify excessive levels of control evident in some interviews with compliant witnesses. Finally, the results confirm the complex nature of real-life investigative interviewing, even for highly trained interviewers. The results are discussed.

Reducing Ethnic Prejudice Through Public Communication Programs: A Social-Psychological Perspective

Abstract Television programs aimed at countering ethnic prejudice generally do not have the desired effect, possibly because relevant theoretical insights have been ignored when such videos are designed. Theoretically, three factors appear relevant: (a) stressing similarities between ethnic minorities and the majority population, (b) exposure to many ethnic minorities, and (c) providing explicit information about the aims of the communication. In the present experiment, the effects of specially constructed videos based on these theoretical perspectives were examined. White Dutch participants (N = 261) were assigned to one of eight experimental conditions or to the control condition. Those in the experimental conditions were exposed to a TV spot about ethnic minorities before completing a questionnaire about attitudes toward ethnic minorities. Participants in the control condition completed this questionnaire without watching a TV spot. The eight experimental conditions were formed by the systematic crossi...

Target-absent eyewitness identification line-ups: why do children like to choose

Children generally fail to reject target-absent line-ups correctly as not containing the “perpetrator”. This experiment aimed to investigate this issue of higher rate of choosing behaviour in children by offering an alternative selection choice. One hundred and forty-eight children aged six to seven years actively participated in live craft events conducted by an adult male who later became the target to be identified. Supporting the hypotheses, the use of the alternative procedure was found to be significantly associated with the childrens ability to reject the line-up correctly when the target was absent. Importantly, this was not accompanied by reduced performance in target-present conditions. Also supporting the hypothesis, children made correct decisions faster than incorrect decisions. The implications of these findings to applied forensic practice are discussed.

Police officers’ perceptions of interviews in cases of sexual offences and murder involving children and adult victims

This paper examines 90 UK police officers’ perceptions of characteristics of interviews with suspects of rape and murder involving child and adult victims. Officers rated their beliefs about how stressful they would find such interviews, the importance of confessions, their likely emotional involvement and how much empathy they would show towards the suspect. Murder cases were reported to be more stressful than rape, and confessions were deemed to be less important for respondents compared to ‘other’ officers. Officers reported that they would become more emotionally involved in cases involving children, and they would show more empathy in murder cases than rape cases. Officers were unable to provide clear and unambiguous definitions of ‘empathy’ or ‘sympathy’.

Why is my Voice so Easily Recognized in Identity Parades? Influence of First Impressions on Voice Identification

This study examines peoples first impressions of voices of various ethnic origin and recognizability from identification line-ups. It was hypothesized that voices that were easily recognized would be perceived more negatively than less recognizable ones, fitting the “bad guy” stereotype. Forty English native speakers rated the voices of 12 male speakers for attractiveness, extraversion, dominance, kindness, intelligence, success, goodness, as well as for several voice characteristics (i.e., melody, clarity, nervousness). The recognizability categorization process (low-, medium-, and high-recognizability groups) was determined from accuracy rates collected in a different study. A significant effect for recognizability was found on first impressions. Partially in line with the hypothesis, voices low in recognizability were rated more positively than voices whose recognizability was high. Attributes in which high-recognizability voices differed significantly from the other voices concerned nervousness, morality, and social desirability. Practical recommendations are given for real-life voice identification line-ups.

Child Witness Investigative Interviews: An Analysis of the Use of Children's Video-Recorded Evidence in North Yorkshire

Since the 1992 onset in England and Wales of video-recorded investigative interviews with children for possible use in criminal proceedings, there have been claims that far too many such interviews are being recorded. Indeed, debate about the usefulness of video-recorded interviews centres on the argument that only a few of the many interviews with children which have been recorded on video are used either in criminal courts or, indeed, anywhere else. This paper examines the number and outcome of the video-recorded interviews which were conducted between 1993 and 1996 by the North Yorkshire Police Family Protection Unit (South). Some time after having a video-recorded interview with a child witness/victim the police officer involved in the case completed a questionnaire, the results of which were collated. The results suggest that interviews with children provide useful evidential material and are, in fact, being used. This paper relates only to records kept by the police and not social services. It is not the intention to disregard the process of joint investigation or, indeed, to ignore the importance of the role of social services in the video-recorded interviews referred to in this paper.

The Impact of Question Type and Empathy on Police Interviews with Suspects of Homicide, Filicide and Child Sexual Abuse

Conducting interviews with “high-stake” offenders, especially those accused of murder and sexual offences, represents a complex and emotive area of work for police officers. Using an English sample of 59 actual police interviews, the effects of empathy and question type on the amount of investigation-relevant information obtained from interviews with suspects of child murder, child sex offences and adult murder were analysed and compared. No direct effects of empathy on the amount of information elicited were found. However, in interviews classified as empathic, interviewers asked significantly more appropriate questions than they did in interviews classified as non-empathic, and significantly more items of information were elicited from appropriate questions. There was a significant effect of offence type on the number of inappropriate, questions asked, with significantly more inappropriate questions being asked in interviews with suspects of child sex offences than in interviews with suspects of child or adult murder.