Can physical characteristics in the interrogation room aid the witness in recalling what happened?

Can physical characteristics in the interrogation room aid the witness in recalling what happened?

Bouwhuis, Twan (YNNO)
Verwijmeren, Joris (Saxion University of Applied Sciences)
Pijls, Ruth (Saxion University of Applied Sciences)
Groen, Brenda (Saxion University of Applied Sciences)

2022-06-15

Background and aim - Police interrogations tend to be very stressful. This comes at the expense of the effectiveness of interrogations as stressed suspects and witnesses provide less extensive and accurate statements. A more comfortable environment probably leads to more effective interrogations for all persons involved. The aim of this research is to determine whether particular aspects of the physical environment of an interrogation room may enable self-disclosure and improve accuracy of the recall of information. Methods / Methodology - An experiment using a 2 x 2 between subjects design was performed investigating the impact of two variables, wall colour (blue/red) and seating comfort (chair/stool), on self-disclosure, and accuracy of information of participants who played the role of witnesses during a simulation of a police interrogation. Results - Results showed that indeed stress was induced during the experiment. The stool was perceived as less comfortable than the chair, and participants experienced significantly different emotions between the blue and the red wall. However, no significant differences could be shown regarding selfdisclosure and accuracy of information in 2x2 design. Possibly, the limited number of participants has influenced the results. A repeat study with a larger sample is recommended. Originality - Currently, there are limited studies within the field of police interrogations that study the role of the physical environment. This is the first study to show that a (too) comfortable police interrogation room might be not beneficial for the effectiveness of the interrogation. Practical or social implications - The experiment showed that using physical aspects to appeal to users’ emotions is a means of increasing comfort. Type of paper - Research paper (full)

stress
Self-disclosure
accuracy of information
police interrogation

https://doi.org/10.4233/uuid:1c80db0d-b0f2-4359-8b05-29814a15770d

Conference proceedings

conference paper

(c) the authors