The Effect of the Interviewer’s Cognitive Load on the Quality of the Forensic Interview

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Bibliographic Details
Title: The Effect of the Interviewer’s Cognitive Load on the Quality of the Forensic Interview
Authors: Dora Giorgianni, Aldert Vrij, Sharon Leal, Haneen Deeb
Source: European Journal of Psychology Applied to Legal Context, Vol 17, Iss 2, Pp 101-110 (2025)
Publisher Information: Colegio Oficial de la Psicologia de Madrid, 2025.
Publication Year: 2025
Subject Terms: Criminal law and procedure, K5000-5582, truth/lie bias, interview presentation modality, lie detection, inappropriate questions, Psychology, appropriate questions, BF1-990
Description: Background/Aim: The aim of this experiment was to investigate the impact of the interviewer’s cognitive load resulting from the interview presentation modality on the interviewer’s performance. Method: A total of 120 participants took on the role of the interviewer and were either exposed to a video with audio of an interview with a mock suspect (high cognitive load condition) or just the audio clip of that interview (low cognitive load condition). The suspects were either truthful or deceptive. The mock interviewers were asked to recall what the suspect said during the interview, propose follow-up questions, and determine whether the suspect was truthful or deceptive. Results: The interviewer’s cognitive load did not affect recall, but participants in the interviewer’s low cognitive load condition asked more questions and more high-quality questions and demonstrated better accuracy in determining whether the interviewees were truthful or deceptive than participants in the interviewer’s high cognitive load condition. Conclusions: The results suggest that access to both vocal and visual cues (interviewer’s high cognitive load) hampers the quality of the interview and veracity assessments.
Document Type: Article
Language: English
ISSN: 1989-4007
1889-1861
DOI: 10.5093/ejpalc2025a9
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/4ee2bf57a7a44095a6940fc507a96ce3
Accession Number: edsair.doi.dedup.....2c2bc9856e930356635e5de3ec93d9cc
Database: OpenAIRE
Description
Abstract:Background/Aim: The aim of this experiment was to investigate the impact of the interviewer’s cognitive load resulting from the interview presentation modality on the interviewer’s performance. Method: A total of 120 participants took on the role of the interviewer and were either exposed to a video with audio of an interview with a mock suspect (high cognitive load condition) or just the audio clip of that interview (low cognitive load condition). The suspects were either truthful or deceptive. The mock interviewers were asked to recall what the suspect said during the interview, propose follow-up questions, and determine whether the suspect was truthful or deceptive. Results: The interviewer’s cognitive load did not affect recall, but participants in the interviewer’s low cognitive load condition asked more questions and more high-quality questions and demonstrated better accuracy in determining whether the interviewees were truthful or deceptive than participants in the interviewer’s high cognitive load condition. Conclusions: The results suggest that access to both vocal and visual cues (interviewer’s high cognitive load) hampers the quality of the interview and veracity assessments.
ISSN:19894007
18891861
DOI:10.5093/ejpalc2025a9