Advancing the Shift-of-Strategy approach: Shifting suspects' strategies in extended interviews
Interviewers often face the challenge of obtaining information from suspects who are willing to speak but are motivated to conceal incriminating information. The Shift-of-Strategy (SoS) approach is an interviewing technique designed to obtain new information from such suspects. This study provides a...
Saved in:
| Published in: | Law and human behavior Vol. 48; no. 1; p. 50 |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
United States
01.02.2024
|
| Subjects: | |
| ISSN: | 1573-661X, 1573-661X |
| Online Access: | Get more information |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Abstract | Interviewers often face the challenge of obtaining information from suspects who are willing to speak but are motivated to conceal incriminating information. The Shift-of-Strategy (SoS) approach is an interviewing technique designed to obtain new information from such suspects. This study provides a robust empirical test of the SoS approach using more complex crime events and longer interviews than previously tested as well as testing a new variation of the approach (SoS-Reinforcement) that included a strategic summary of the suspect's statement. We compared this new variation with a standard version of the approach (SoS-Standard) and an interviewing approach that involved no confrontation of discrepancies in the suspects' statements (Direct).
We predicted that the two SoS versions would outperform the Direct condition in terms of participants' disclosure of previously unknown information. We also predicted that SoS-Reinforcement would outperform SoS-Standard. Finally, we expected that participants in the SoS conditions would not assess the interview or the interviewer more poorly than participants in Direct.
A total of 300 participants completed an online mock crime procedure, and they were subsequently interviewed with one of the three interviewing techniques. Following the interview, participants provided assessments of their experiences being interviewed.
Participants in both SoS-Standard (d = 0.49, 95% confidence interval [CI: 0.21, 0.78]) and SoS-Reinforcement (d = 0.59, 95% CI [0.30, 0.87]) disclosed more previously unknown information than participants in the Direct condition, but SoS-Reinforcement did not outperform SoS-Standard (d = 0.08, 95% CI [-0.20, 0.36]). Participants in SoS-Reinforcement assessed their experience more negatively than those in Direct. No such differences were observed in the remaining two-way comparisons.
The study provides support for the effectiveness of eliciting new information through the SoS approach and illuminates possible experiential downsides with being subjected to the SoS-Reinforcement approach. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved). |
|---|---|
| AbstractList | Interviewers often face the challenge of obtaining information from suspects who are willing to speak but are motivated to conceal incriminating information. The Shift-of-Strategy (SoS) approach is an interviewing technique designed to obtain new information from such suspects. This study provides a robust empirical test of the SoS approach using more complex crime events and longer interviews than previously tested as well as testing a new variation of the approach (SoS-Reinforcement) that included a strategic summary of the suspect's statement. We compared this new variation with a standard version of the approach (SoS-Standard) and an interviewing approach that involved no confrontation of discrepancies in the suspects' statements (Direct).
We predicted that the two SoS versions would outperform the Direct condition in terms of participants' disclosure of previously unknown information. We also predicted that SoS-Reinforcement would outperform SoS-Standard. Finally, we expected that participants in the SoS conditions would not assess the interview or the interviewer more poorly than participants in Direct.
A total of 300 participants completed an online mock crime procedure, and they were subsequently interviewed with one of the three interviewing techniques. Following the interview, participants provided assessments of their experiences being interviewed.
Participants in both SoS-Standard (d = 0.49, 95% confidence interval [CI: 0.21, 0.78]) and SoS-Reinforcement (d = 0.59, 95% CI [0.30, 0.87]) disclosed more previously unknown information than participants in the Direct condition, but SoS-Reinforcement did not outperform SoS-Standard (d = 0.08, 95% CI [-0.20, 0.36]). Participants in SoS-Reinforcement assessed their experience more negatively than those in Direct. No such differences were observed in the remaining two-way comparisons.
The study provides support for the effectiveness of eliciting new information through the SoS approach and illuminates possible experiential downsides with being subjected to the SoS-Reinforcement approach. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved). Interviewers often face the challenge of obtaining information from suspects who are willing to speak but are motivated to conceal incriminating information. The Shift-of-Strategy (SoS) approach is an interviewing technique designed to obtain new information from such suspects. This study provides a robust empirical test of the SoS approach using more complex crime events and longer interviews than previously tested as well as testing a new variation of the approach (SoS-Reinforcement) that included a strategic summary of the suspect's statement. We compared this new variation with a standard version of the approach (SoS-Standard) and an interviewing approach that involved no confrontation of discrepancies in the suspects' statements (Direct).OBJECTIVEInterviewers often face the challenge of obtaining information from suspects who are willing to speak but are motivated to conceal incriminating information. The Shift-of-Strategy (SoS) approach is an interviewing technique designed to obtain new information from such suspects. This study provides a robust empirical test of the SoS approach using more complex crime events and longer interviews than previously tested as well as testing a new variation of the approach (SoS-Reinforcement) that included a strategic summary of the suspect's statement. We compared this new variation with a standard version of the approach (SoS-Standard) and an interviewing approach that involved no confrontation of discrepancies in the suspects' statements (Direct).We predicted that the two SoS versions would outperform the Direct condition in terms of participants' disclosure of previously unknown information. We also predicted that SoS-Reinforcement would outperform SoS-Standard. Finally, we expected that participants in the SoS conditions would not assess the interview or the interviewer more poorly than participants in Direct.HYPOTHESESWe predicted that the two SoS versions would outperform the Direct condition in terms of participants' disclosure of previously unknown information. We also predicted that SoS-Reinforcement would outperform SoS-Standard. Finally, we expected that participants in the SoS conditions would not assess the interview or the interviewer more poorly than participants in Direct.A total of 300 participants completed an online mock crime procedure, and they were subsequently interviewed with one of the three interviewing techniques. Following the interview, participants provided assessments of their experiences being interviewed.METHODA total of 300 participants completed an online mock crime procedure, and they were subsequently interviewed with one of the three interviewing techniques. Following the interview, participants provided assessments of their experiences being interviewed.Participants in both SoS-Standard (d = 0.49, 95% confidence interval [CI: 0.21, 0.78]) and SoS-Reinforcement (d = 0.59, 95% CI [0.30, 0.87]) disclosed more previously unknown information than participants in the Direct condition, but SoS-Reinforcement did not outperform SoS-Standard (d = 0.08, 95% CI [-0.20, 0.36]). Participants in SoS-Reinforcement assessed their experience more negatively than those in Direct. No such differences were observed in the remaining two-way comparisons.RESULTSParticipants in both SoS-Standard (d = 0.49, 95% confidence interval [CI: 0.21, 0.78]) and SoS-Reinforcement (d = 0.59, 95% CI [0.30, 0.87]) disclosed more previously unknown information than participants in the Direct condition, but SoS-Reinforcement did not outperform SoS-Standard (d = 0.08, 95% CI [-0.20, 0.36]). Participants in SoS-Reinforcement assessed their experience more negatively than those in Direct. No such differences were observed in the remaining two-way comparisons.The study provides support for the effectiveness of eliciting new information through the SoS approach and illuminates possible experiential downsides with being subjected to the SoS-Reinforcement approach. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).CONCLUSIONSThe study provides support for the effectiveness of eliciting new information through the SoS approach and illuminates possible experiential downsides with being subjected to the SoS-Reinforcement approach. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved). |
| Author | Ekelund, Malin Granhag, Pär Anders Nyström, Lina Stern, Pär D Luke, Timothy J Dönmez, Aziz-Kaan |
| Author_xml | – sequence: 1 givenname: Lina orcidid: 0000-0002-9221-8503 surname: Nyström fullname: Nyström, Lina organization: Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg – sequence: 2 givenname: Timothy J orcidid: 0000-0002-5513-6605 surname: Luke fullname: Luke, Timothy J organization: Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg – sequence: 3 givenname: Pär Anders orcidid: 0000-0002-1856-925X surname: Granhag fullname: Granhag, Pär Anders organization: Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg – sequence: 4 givenname: Aziz-Kaan orcidid: 0009-0009-8891-4109 surname: Dönmez fullname: Dönmez, Aziz-Kaan organization: Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg – sequence: 5 givenname: Malin orcidid: 0000-0001-6919-0373 surname: Ekelund fullname: Ekelund, Malin organization: Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg – sequence: 6 givenname: Pär D orcidid: 0009-0007-3099-1537 surname: Stern fullname: Stern, Pär D organization: Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg |
| BackLink | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38573704$$D View this record in MEDLINE/PubMed |
| BookMark | eNpNkEtLw0AUhQep2Idu_AGSnW6id2YyaequFF8guKiCK8M8bppIOomZSbX_3imt4N3cA-fj3MMdk4FtLBJyTuGaAp_e1KWCMEIkR2RExZTHaUrfB__0kIyd-wzMLANxQoY8C84UkhH5mJuNtLqyq8iXGC3LqvBxU8RL30mPq20k27ZrpC5v994OdL1rUXt3Gbk9VaGLKhvhj0dr0ATtsdtU-O1OyXEha4dnhz0hb_d3r4vH-Pnl4Wkxf45lwhIfU6GM4klKE840zEwyU5lRGS0kgtBSUMMyLhSTKWPANALoFIzeUQayVLIJudrnhrJfPTqfryunsa6lxaZ3OQfOAdJwIqAXB7RXazR521Vr2W3zv5-wXwv4ZYk |
| CitedBy_id | crossref_primary_10_1108_JCP_10_2024_0092 |
| ContentType | Journal Article |
| DBID | CGR CUY CVF ECM EIF NPM 7X8 |
| DOI | 10.1037/lhb0000554 |
| DatabaseName | Medline MEDLINE MEDLINE (Ovid) MEDLINE MEDLINE PubMed MEDLINE - Academic |
| DatabaseTitle | MEDLINE Medline Complete MEDLINE with Full Text PubMed MEDLINE (Ovid) MEDLINE - Academic |
| DatabaseTitleList | MEDLINE MEDLINE - Academic |
| Database_xml | – sequence: 1 dbid: NPM name: PubMed url: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed sourceTypes: Index Database – sequence: 2 dbid: 7X8 name: MEDLINE - Academic url: https://search.proquest.com/medline sourceTypes: Aggregation Database |
| DeliveryMethod | no_fulltext_linktorsrc |
| Discipline | Psychology Sociology & Social History Law |
| EISSN | 1573-661X |
| ExternalDocumentID | 38573704 |
| Genre | Journal Article |
| GrantInformation_xml | – fundername: Federal Bureau of Investigation; High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group |
| GroupedDBID | --- -Y2 -~C -~X .4L .86 0-V 0R~ 1SB 2.D 28- 29L 2JY 2P1 2VQ 4.4 53G 5GY 5QI 5VS 67Z 6NX 78A 7RZ 7WY 7X7 85S 88E 8AO 8FI 8FJ 8FL 8G5 8TC 8UJ 8VB AACLI AAIAL AARHV AAYZH ABACO ABFSG ABIVO ABMNI ABNCP ABQSL ABUWG ABVOZ ACBXY ACHQT ACNCT ACOMO ACPQG ACSTC ACYUM ADBBV ADEPB ADHKG ADIMF ADKPE ADMHG ADNFJ ADRFC ADUOI ADXHL AEFIE AEGNC AEHFB AEZWR AFACB AFBBN AFEXP AFFNX AFGCZ AFHIU AFKRA AFLOW AFXCU AGJBK AGQPQ AGQRV AHBYD AHEHV AHKAY AHMBA AHQJS AHSBF AHWEU AIXLP AKVCP ALMA_UNASSIGNED_HOLDINGS ALSLI AMKLP AQUVI ARALO AWKKM AZQEC AZXWR BA0 BBWZM BENPR BEZIV BGNMA BGRYB BHRNT BPHCQ BVXVI CAG CCPQU CGNQK CGR COF CS3 CSCUP CUY CVF DL5 DU5 DWQXO D~- EBS EBU ECM EHE EIF EJD EKAWT EPA F5P FEDTE FM. FRNLG FTD FYUFA GNUQQ GROUPED_ABI_INFORM_RESEARCH GUQSH GXS H13 HF~ HG5 HG6 HGD HISYW HLICF HMCUK HVGLF HZ~ I09 IHE ISO IXC IZQ I~X K1G K60 K6~ KDC KOV KOW LAK LXHRH M0C M0O M0T M1P M2M M2O M4Y M86 N2Q NB0 NDZJH NPM NU0 O-J O9- O93 O9G O9I OAM OPA OVD P19 P2P PADUT PHGZM PHGZT PJZUB PPXIY PQBIZ PQBZA PQQKQ PROAC PRQQA PSQYO PSYQQ PUEGO Q2X QF4 QN5 QN7 QOK QOS QWB R4E R9I RHO RNI ROL RPX RRX RWL RXW RZC RZD S1Z S26 S27 S28 SBS SDH SDM SOJ T13 T16 TAA TAC TAF TEORI TH9 TSK U2A UKHRP VC2 W2G W48 WHG WIP WK6 WK8 YQR YQT YZZ ZCA ZCG ZL0 ZMU ZPI ~8M ~EX 7X8 |
| ID | FETCH-LOGICAL-a424t-15bdb3461432c09d49b8db81fae05ca51d2835b2a62202ce00c60dc9b8dd086a2 |
| IEDL.DBID | 7X8 |
| ISICitedReferencesCount | 1 |
| ISICitedReferencesURI | http://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=Summon&SrcAuth=ProQuest&DestLinkType=CitingArticles&DestApp=WOS_CPL&KeyUT=001327353400003&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcvtisr.summon.serialssolutions.com%2F%23%21%2Fsearch%3Fho%3Df%26include.ft.matches%3Dt%26l%3Dnull%26q%3D |
| ISSN | 1573-661X |
| IngestDate | Fri Sep 05 09:00:44 EDT 2025 Fri Sep 26 01:52:56 EDT 2025 |
| IsDoiOpenAccess | false |
| IsOpenAccess | true |
| IsPeerReviewed | true |
| IsScholarly | true |
| Issue | 1 |
| Language | English |
| LinkModel | DirectLink |
| MergedId | FETCHMERGED-LOGICAL-a424t-15bdb3461432c09d49b8db81fae05ca51d2835b2a62202ce00c60dc9b8dd086a2 |
| Notes | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
| ORCID | 0009-0007-3099-1537 0000-0002-5513-6605 0009-0009-8891-4109 0000-0002-1856-925X 0000-0002-9221-8503 0000-0001-6919-0373 |
| OpenAccessLink | https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000554 |
| PMID | 38573704 |
| PQID | 3033006346 |
| PQPubID | 23479 |
| ParticipantIDs | proquest_miscellaneous_3033006346 pubmed_primary_38573704 |
| PublicationCentury | 2000 |
| PublicationDate | 2024-02-01 |
| PublicationDateYYYYMMDD | 2024-02-01 |
| PublicationDate_xml | – month: 02 year: 2024 text: 2024-02-01 day: 01 |
| PublicationDecade | 2020 |
| PublicationPlace | United States |
| PublicationPlace_xml | – name: United States |
| PublicationTitle | Law and human behavior |
| PublicationTitleAlternate | Law Hum Behav |
| PublicationYear | 2024 |
| SSID | ssj0009805 |
| Score | 2.3969991 |
| Snippet | Interviewers often face the challenge of obtaining information from suspects who are willing to speak but are motivated to conceal incriminating information.... |
| SourceID | proquest pubmed |
| SourceType | Aggregation Database Index Database |
| StartPage | 50 |
| SubjectTerms | Crime Databases, Factual Disclosure Humans |
| Title | Advancing the Shift-of-Strategy approach: Shifting suspects' strategies in extended interviews |
| URI | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38573704 https://www.proquest.com/docview/3033006346 |
| Volume | 48 |
| WOSCitedRecordID | wos001327353400003&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcvtisr.summon.serialssolutions.com%2F%23%21%2Fsearch%3Fho%3Df%26include.ft.matches%3Dt%26l%3Dnull%26q%3D |
| hasFullText | |
| inHoldings | 1 |
| isFullTextHit | |
| isPrint | |
| link | http://cvtisr.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/link/0/eLvHCXMwpV3NS8MwFH8452EXP-bX5gcRRE9h6dfaehERh4c5Bir05EiTlA2knbZT9t_7krbbSRC89NIE0uTX935J3vs9gMu-dBlufHTaL-dUI4TGQWJT7iC7d2WIXs6o6w_90SiIonBcHbjlVVhlbRONoZaZ0GfkPTS1jvanbv92_kF11Sh9u1qV0GhA00Eqo1HtR2u18DAwIYyW5zsU_VBUy5M6fu99auiRp8sA_EYtjYsZ7Px3cLuwXZFLcleiYQ82VNqGxpB_t6G1snTLNnRXaSrkipQJuqTUC1nuw5sptCzQpREkh-R5OksKmiW00rFdklqG_KZ8pxvmC5OxmV-TvKi1J8gsJfURO5mZ0Eqte3oAr4OHl_tHWlVhoNy13YJaXixj_DIkVrZgoXTDOJBxYCVcMU9wz5Jasi22ed-2mS0UY6LPpNCtJO6XuH0Im2mWqmMgYRAqy0lizgUSGcU4QkP6wmGJCn0esA5c1NM7QZTrqwueqmyRT9YT3IGjco0m81KOY-IEuL4-c7t_6H0CLRykW4Zdn0IzwX9cncGW-Cpm-ee5gQ8-R-OnH04Gz6Y |
| linkProvider | ProQuest |
| openUrl | ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fsummon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Advancing+the+Shift-of-Strategy+approach%3A+Shifting+suspects%27+strategies+in+extended+interviews&rft.jtitle=Law+and+human+behavior&rft.au=Nystr%C3%B6m%2C+Lina&rft.au=Luke%2C+Timothy+J&rft.au=Granhag%2C+P%C3%A4r+Anders&rft.au=D%C3%B6nmez%2C+Aziz-Kaan&rft.date=2024-02-01&rft.issn=1573-661X&rft.eissn=1573-661X&rft.volume=48&rft.issue=1&rft.spage=50&rft_id=info:doi/10.1037%2Flhb0000554&rft.externalDBID=NO_FULL_TEXT |
| thumbnail_l | http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/lc.gif&issn=1573-661X&client=summon |
| thumbnail_m | http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/mc.gif&issn=1573-661X&client=summon |
| thumbnail_s | http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/sc.gif&issn=1573-661X&client=summon |