Interrogative suggestibility, confabulation, and acquiescence in people with mild learning disabilities (mental handicap): implications for reliability during police interrogations.
In order to assess a criminal suspect's ability to make a reliable statement, performance on three measures--interrogative suggestibility, confabulation and acquiescence--may be used. This paper presents preliminary data on these measures for people with mild learning disabilities (Full Scale IQ [FSIQ]: 57-75). It was found that they were more suggestible than their average ability counterparts (FSIQ: 83-111) because they were much more susceptible to 'leading questions'. They also confabulated more and were more acquiescent. Overall, the data emphasized their potential vulnerability to giving erroneous testimony during interrogations.
Clare
I C
IC
Psychology Department, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London.
Gudjonsson
G H
GH
D000328:Adult; D003416:Criminal Law; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D011581:Psychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013404:Suggestion; D014705:Verbal Behavior