Meta-Analyses on the Validity of Verbal Tools for Credibility Assessment

Since ancient times, approaches to distinguish between true and deceptive statements have been of particular importance in the context of court decisions. However, the applicability of most psychophysiological or behavioral measures of deception is critically discussed. Verbal tools for credibility assessment, nonetheless, are widely used. They rest on the assumption that the quality of statements that are experience-based differs from the quality of fabricated accounts. In order to test the validity of two prominent procedures, Criteria-Based Content Analysis (CBCA) and Reality Monitoring (RM), a random-effects meta-analysis (REMA) was conducted on 52 English- and German-language studies in Meta-Analysis 1. The REMA revealed a large point estimate with moderate to large effect sizes in the confidence interval. This finding applied for both CBCA and RM, despite the fact that (1) there was a high level of heterogeneity between studies that could not be resolved by moderator analyses and, (2) it cannot be ruled out that effect size estimates are biased and thus verbal tools for credibility assessment only work to a smaller extent. However, a recent simulation study cast doubt on these findings: It showed that the meta-analytic methods used in Meta-Analysis 1 lead to false-positive rates of up to 100% if data sets are biased. To test the robustness of previous findings, a reanalysis with different bias-correcting meta-analytic methods was conducted on an updated set of 71 studies in Meta-Analysis 2. The overall effect size estimates ranged from a null effect to conventionally large effect sizes. Taking into account specific strengths and limitations of each meta-analytic method, results indicated that CBCA and RM distinguish between experience-based and fabricated statements with moderate to large effect sizes. In contrast, the Scientific Content Analysis (SCAN) – a third verbal tool for credibility assessment that was also tested in the updated data set of Meta-Analysis 2 – did not discriminate between truth and lies and should thus not be used in practice

Die deutsche Version der Offender Group Reconviction Scale, Version 3 (OGRS 3)

Die Offender Group Reconviction Scale, Version 3 (OGRS 3) ist ein aktuarisches Kriminalprognoseinstrument zur Einschätzung des allgemeinen Rückfallrisikos während eines einjährigen bzw. zweijährigen Nachbeobachtungszeitraums. Die englischsprachige Originalversion der OGRS 3 (Francis et al. 2007; Howard et al. 2009; National Offender Management Service 2009) wurde in Großbritannien auf der Basis einer Normierungsstichprobe von über 79 000 Personen entwickelt und wird dort seit 2008 routinemäßig in der Bewährungshilfe eingesetzt. Die OGRS 3 umfasst sechs Items zu verschiedenen soziodemografischen Parametern, zur strafrechtlichen Vorbelastung und zum aktuellen Hauptdelikt. Sie eignet sich für männliche sowie weibliche straffällig gewordene Personen und ist unabhängig von der Art des Indexdeliktes einsetzbar. Mit diesem BM-Online-Band wird die offizielle deutsche Übersetzung der OGRS 3 für die praktische Anwendung zur Verfügung gestellt. Ergänzend dazu kann ein Excel-basiertes Berechnungs-Tool (Stand: 13.01.2022) zur Unterstützung der Anwendung der OGRS 3 in deutscher Sprache heruntergeladen werden, mit dem eine automatisierte Berechnung der OGRS 3-Risikowerte vorgenommen werden kann

Development of a Cued Pro- and Antisaccade Paradigm: An Indirect Measure to Explore Automatic Components of Sexual Interest

We developed a cued pro- and antisaccade paradigm (CPAP) to explore automatic components of sexual interest. Heterosexual participants (n = 32 women, n = 25 men) had to perform fast eye movements towards and away from sexually relevant or irrelevant stimuli across a congruent (i.e. prosaccade towards sexually relevant stimuli, antisaccade away from sexually irrelevant stimuli) and an incongruent condition (i.e. prosaccade towards sexually irrelevant stimuli, antisaccade away from sexually relevant stimuli). We hypothesized that pro- and antisaccade performance would be influenced by the sexual interest-specific relevance of the presented stimulus (i.e., nude female or male stimulus) and the instructed task (i.e., pro- or antisaccade) and, thus, differ meaningfully between conditions. Results for prosaccades towards sexually relevant stimuli in the congruent condition showed that error rates were lower and latencies were shorter compared with prosaccades towards sexually irrelevant stimuli in the incongruent condition, but only for male participants. In addition, error rates for antisaccades away from sexually irrelevant stimuli in the congruent condition were lower than for antisaccades away from sexually relevant stimuli in the incongruent condition, for both female and male participants. Latencies of antisaccades, however, did not differ between conditions. In comparison with established indirect sexual interest paradigms, the CPAP benefits from measuring highly automated processes less prone to deliberate control. To this end, the CPAP could be applied to explore the interplay of early automatic and deliberate components of sexual information processing

Cross-cultural verbal deception

Background - ‘Interviewing to detect deception’ research is sparse across different Ethnic Groups. In the present experiment, we interviewed truth tellers and liars from British, Chinese, and Arab origins. British interviewees belong to a low‐context culture (using a communication style that relies heavily on explicit and direct language), whereas Chinese and Arab interviewees belong to high‐context cultures (communicate in ways that are implicit and rely heavily on context).Method - Interviewees were interviewed in pairs and 153 pairs took part. Truthful pairs discussed an actual visit to a nearby restaurant, whereas deceptive pairs pretended to have visited a nearby restaurant. Seventeen verbal cues were examined.Results - Cultural cues (differences between cultures) were more prominent than cues to deceit (differences between truth tellers and liars). In particular, the British interviewees differed from their Chinese and Arab counterparts and the differences reflected low‐ and high‐context culture communication styles.Conclusion - Cultural cues could quickly lead to cross‐cultural verbal communication errors: the incorrect interpretation of a cultural difference as a cue to deceit

Deception and decay: Verbal lie detection as a function of delay and encoding quality

We examined the effect of encoding quality and retention interval on the verbal accounts of truth tellers and liars. Truthful and deceptive participants (n = 149) reported a social interaction immediately or after a three-week delay. To manipulate encoding quality, the content of the exchange was important for, and intentionally attended to by, all liars and half of truth tellers (intentional encoding) but unimportant for half of truth tellers (incidental encoding). In the immediate condition, truth tellers in the intentional condition reported more details than liars and truth tellers in the incidental condition. All truth tellers reported fewer details after a delay (cf. immediately) whereas liars reported equivalent detail at both retrieval intervals. No differences by veracity group emerged in detail reported after delay. The oft-reported finding that truth tellers provide more detail than liars holds true when the event is intentionally encoded by truth tellers who are interviewed without delay

Amplifying deceivers’ flawed metacognition: Encouraging disclosures after delays with a model statement

Truth tellers provide less detail in delayed than in immediate interviews (likely due to forgetting), whereas liars provide similar amounts of detail in immediate and delayed interviews (displaying a metacognitive stability bias effect). We examined whether liar’s flawed metacognition after delays could be exploited by encouraging interviewees to provide more detail via a Model Statement. Truthful and deceptive participants were interviewed immediately (n = 78) or after a three-week delay (n = 78). Half the participants in each condition listened to a Model Statement before questioning. In the Immediate condition, truth tellers provided more details than liars. This pattern was unaffected by the Model Statement. In the Delayed condition, truth tellers and liars provided a similar amount of detail in the Model Statement-absent condition, whereas in the Model Statement-present condition, liars provided more details than truth tellers

Bias is persistent - Sequencing case information does not protect against contextual bias in criminal risk assessment

A large body of research indicates that bias is an inherent phenomenon of human information processing, also present in the psychological forensic assessment, for example, in credibility or criminal risk assessment. However, research on effective debiasing strategies is still in its infancy. Linear Sequential Unmasking-Expanded (LUS-E, Dror & Kukucka, 2021) is an information management protocol designed to reduce bias based on task-irrelevant context information. Inspired by LSU-E we ran a preregistrated experimental study to test, first, if task-irrelevant information introduces bias in criminal risk assessment, and second, if such bias could be reduced by sequencing case information. We collected data of 308 informed lay participants instructed to apply an empirical-actuarial risk scale based on a case vignette. Results showed that task-irrelevant information biased risk assessment. Yet, sequencing case information did not protect against it. Considering various boundary conditions, we discuss challenges to mitigate the biasing effect of task-irrelevant information

Young People: Quality of Life, Traffic, and Mobility 2011

The aim of the study is to take a closer look at the relationship between transport and mobility conditions and quality of life. Mobility affects all areas of our lives and encompasses all of a person's activities, from work to leisure. Different strategies can influence the nature of mobility. For example, the adequate expansion of the local transport system or better planning of individual activities can reduce automobility. Infrastructure measures in public transport, cycling and pedestrian traffic can promote the use of sustainable modes of transport

Law-abiding versus criminal identity and self-efficacy: A quantitative approach to unravel psychological factors supporting desistance from crime

Previous studies suggest that the process of becoming desistant from crime is accompanied by a shift from criminal to law-abiding identity and by the development of self-efficacy for law-abiding behavior. Utilizing direct (self-report) and indirect (Implicit Association Test; IAT) measures of both variables we predicted that a) a stronger law-abiding relative to criminal identity and a stronger/weaker self-efficacy for law-abiding/criminal behavior will correlate with less previous criminal involvement at T1 and b) will prospectively explain variance in desistance two to three years later at T2. Results from a sample of late adolescent and adult offenders on probation largely confirmed cross-sectional associations with previous criminal involvement at T1 (N = 325). Univariately, self-reported and latency-based measured identity for law-abiding relative to criminal behavior explained variance in (survival time until) recidivism at T2 as opposed to self-efficacy for law-abiding or criminal behavior. Multivariately, self-reported law-abiding relative to criminal identity explained variance in survival time until recidivism over and beyond actuarial risk factors at T2. Further analyses showed that actuarial risk factors increasingly overestimated the risk to reoffend as the strength of law-abiding relative to criminal identity increased. The findings indicate that the strength of law-abiding relative to criminal identity plays a role in persisting in or desisting from criminal behavior. Yet, further research is necessary to identify the causal psychological mechanisms of identity change in the process towards desistance from crime