Lecture 1

What are police recorded crime statistics used for

finding where crime is prevalent, tracking change over time, finding causes and risks

dark figure of crime

crime that doesnt enter official statistics

what 9 stages must a crime pass through to be counted and to lead to a response

victim notices, reports, offender caught, police record it, charged, prosecuted, found guilty, appropriate response, reoffend

why is forensic psychology hard to study

because of offenders who were never caught, and imperfect statistics

what critical question should you ask of any offender research

are offenders characteristics generalisable

how does interviewing differ from suspects vs witnesses

statements gathered the same but suspects interviewed under caution

interviewed under caution

anything said may be used in court

what proportion of cases are heard in Magistrate’s Courts

95%, least serious offences

either way offences

offences which can be tried in either court depending on circumstances and request

why do defendants prefer Crown court

lower conviction rate

who decides guilt and sentence in Magistrates court

Magistrates hear all the evidence and decide both

who decides what in crown court

the judge controls permitted evidence and sentencing, while a jury decides guilt after private deliberation

what does a crown court judge weigh when sentencing

legal parameters, case specifics, mitigating circumstances, prior convictions

what are the sentencing proportions given

Fines = 71%, community sentence = 13%, discharge = 8%, prison = 7%

when is a discharge given

the offender shows enough remorse

what contrains fines

likelihood of repayment is considered, max £5000

what is a community sentence

community service, paying back to the community, rehabilitation or curfews

what are the five purposes judges weigh in sentencing

punishment, crime reduction, offender rehabilitation, public protection, restorative justice

why are witness statements needed

physical evidence isnt always conclusive

what did the Innocence Project (2020) find about DNA exonerations

70% of convictions later overturned by DNA involved EWT misidentification

costs of wrongly convicting an innocent person (Brooks & Greenberg, 2021)

financial compensation and reputational damage to legal system

4 causes of eyewitness inaccuracy

stress and attention at encoding, post event misinformation and verbalising making memory worse

Morgan et al (2004) - inaccurate EWT

in a mock POW camp, high stress interrogation reduced identification accuracy relative to low stress, 68% vs 29%

weapon focus (Loftus et al, 1987)

a weapon draws attention away from perpetrator

Loftus & Palmer (1974)

leading questions and post event information distort memory

verbal overshadowing (Schooler & Engstler-School 1990)

verbally describing a memory can impair later recognition

traditional view of eyewitness confidence (Talarico & Rubin, 2003)

confidence and accuracy can diverge

traditional view of eyewitness confidence (Garrett, 2011)

high confidence misidentifications at trial

why can confidence be contaminated (Wixted & Wells, 2017)

ratings can change after the first test, which ratings should matter

which confidence rating is most informative - Wixted & Wells, 2017)

initial confidence, taken before nay opportunity for memory contamination

what does low confidence signal

red flag and high risk of error

why did Wixted and Wells prefer Confidence Accuracy Characteristics (CAC) analysis over correlation

correlation doesnt answer if at a stated confidence level, what probability the witness would be correct

“pristine” procedures

fair lineup and a double blind administrator

what did the Confidence Accuracy Characteristic (CAC) reanalysis find under pristine conditions

high initial confidence IDs were surprisingly accurate in lab studies (Read et al 1990) and field data (Wixted et al 2016)

Wixted & Mickes (2022) - core argument

the criminal system, not EWT, is at fault by relying on the last memory test which is the most corrupt for conviction

which test is most relevant to whether EWT is reliable (Wixted & Mickes, 2022)

only the first test

Critiques of Wixted & Wells (2017)

not all pristine conditions may be necessary (Mickes et al, 2017)

Geiselman et al (1985) - 3 memory principles underpinning interviewing

memory traces are complex, retrieval cues work best when close the memorys structure, various cues may find the right key

who developed the CI

Fisher & Geiselman (1992)

4 main techniques of Cognitive Interview

report everything, reinstate context, change order of recall, change perspective

Tulving & Thomson, 1973 - Encoding Specificity Principle

memory recall best when same context, underlies context reinstatement

which theory underlies changing order and perspective

Multiple retrieval pathways (Tulving, 1974)

what did Fisher et al (1990) find with the enhanced CI

statements rose 46%, accuracy reached 90% where truth was known

What did Geiselman & Fisher (1997) find across 40 lab and field studies

25-30% more correct information from CI with no rise in incorrect information

limitations of CI (Geiselman & Fisher, 1997)

less effective over longer periods

limitations of CI (Groeger, 1997)

retrieval context doesn’t aid recognition tasks like identikits and line ups

Koehnken et al (1999) meta analysis

across 55 studies, 2,500 interviews, a strong increase in correct info d = .87 and small increase in incorrect info d = .28

why do officers not use full CI (Kebbell et al, 1999)

lack of time and they rate change of perspective and order as least valuable

why did Davis et al (2005) drop perspective and order change

both were less effective in the literature so built modified CI (MCI)

Davis et al (2005) design

45 participants watched a 30s assault video and were interviewed 2-3h later with full CI, MCI or standard interview

correct item means in Davis et al (2005)

CI - 42.43, MCI - 40.40, SI - 30.86

what were the incorrect item means (Davis et al, 2005)

CI - .81, MCI - .79, SI - .78

what were the confabulation means (Davis et al, 2005)

CI = 1.93, MCI = 2.07, SI = 1.29

accuracy duration and number of questions Davis et al (2005)

accuracy: CI .81 MCI .79 SI .78 duration: CI 21.99 MCI 22.61 SI 13.34 CI 20.86 MCI 19.00 SI 18.50

main conclusion of Davis et al (2005)

CI and MCI recalled similar correct items with no real difference in incorrect confabulation or accuracy

Davis et al (2005) finding about second and third recalls of MCI

third recall gave more correct items and better accuracy than the CI’s change perspective, second had better change order

what did shortened MCI show

one recall plus imagery produced more correct items than shortened SI, but took slightly longer

Paulo et al (2016) - ECI superiority effect

enhanced CI outperforms standard interviews

what newer MCI element is being tested

category clustering recalled based on spreading activation theory of semantic processing (Collins & Loftus, 1975)

what does 30 years of CI research show

CI generally increases information recalled showing cognitive psychology influencing practice

Duchenne smile

genuine enjoyment smile involving eye muscle (orbicularis oculi) and mouth muscle (zygomatic major)

Ekman (1985, 2009) microexpressions

liars try but fail to conceal microexpressions

Matsumoto et al (2018) - microexpressions

mixed strength for distinguishing truth tellers from liars

which cues do people, police and legal professionals believe indicate lying (Vrij, 2000, 2008)

gaze aversion, fidgeting, speech disturbances

what does lab research actually show about cues (Vrij, 2000, 2008)

eye contact deception relationship is complex, gaze fideting and speech dont truly indicate lying

Mann et al (2002) methods

kent police videotapes giving 65 clips (27 truth, 28 lies, 2 per person) coded by independent coders for blink, gaze, arm movements, speech disturbances, pauses and head movements.

why are only certain tapes available

usually only serious cases videotaped and suspects can decline

Mann et al (2002) results

suspects blinked less and paused longer when lying, with large individual differences

blinking and pausing explanation

cognitive load (DePaulo et al, 2001) blink suppression and increased pausing are linked to high load (Goldman-Eisler, 1968)

why is blinking important

helps distinguish nervousness from cognitive load

why does the lack of an innocent suspect group matter (Bond & Fahey, 1987)

high stake liars and truth tellers may behave very similarly

Verifiability Approach

moving from nonverbal cues to speech, truth tellers give more verifiable details

accuracy of VA (Vrij, 2018)

examiners judgements are correct in 70% cases

Ioannidis et al (2022)

improved verification reliability helps, whereas larger lying costs or a harsher penalty don’t once the deterrence condition is met

false confession rates among UK, US and Japan

UK 60% US 42-55% Japan 90%

what share of DNA exonerations involved false confessions (Garett, 2008)

roughly a quarter or more (Innocence Project)

which vulnerabilities increase false confession risk

youth and learning disability (Drizin & Leo, 2004), mental health problems like depression and high anxiety (Gudjonsson, 2003)

which situational factors cause false confession

police believing the suspect is guilty combined with interrogation such as Reid technique

third degree interrogations

historical approaches using torture

how does modern accusatorial interrogation begin

after initial analysis and determination of guilt, using behaviour provoking questions and observing suspects responses

Reid technique

isolate the suspect in a private room then repeat their guilt and lack of way out so confession is the only escape

three types of police induced false confession

voluntary, compliant, internalised

voluntary false confession

give without pressure, may be covering for someone

compliant false confession

one induced by police methods and social isolation

internalised false confession

the suspect distrusts their own memory

Kassin (1997) - compliance

a change in behaviour for instrumental purposes like Asch and Milgrams studies

Kassin (1997) - internalisation

private acceptance of beliefs expressed by others

Kassin & Kiechel (1996) findings

people accepted guilt for damaging a computer when a witness falsely said theyd seen it 65% confessed with a witness vs 12% without

which psychological concepts explain internalised confessions

memory malleability and false memory

which regulates interrogation and confession evidence in England and Wales

Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) 1984

PEACE approach

non accusatory rapport-building, information gathering interview model informed by psychology (Williamson, 2007)

Caitlin et al (2024) findings

information gathering approaches increase true confessions and decrease false confessions

evidence base of Catlin et al (2024)

29 lab studies of mock suspects analysed with network meta analysis

what did Catliln et al (2024) say about accusatorial true confessions

yielded fewer true confessions than information gathering but not significant (OR = .55, 95%) (CI = .29-1.05)