Your alibi better not be a-changin': the effect of alibi change and interview strategy on perceptions of alibi witness's credibility, suspect innocence, and interview quality.
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| Title: | Your alibi better not be a-changin': the effect of alibi change and interview strategy on perceptions of alibi witness's credibility, suspect innocence, and interview quality. |
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| Authors: | Eastwood, Joseph (AUTHOR), Snow, Mark (AUTHOR), Crough, Quintan (AUTHOR), Han, Tianshuang (AUTHOR), Snook, Brent (AUTHOR), Gregory, Madison (AUTHOR), Fallon, Laura (AUTHOR), Lively, Christopher J. (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Psychology, Crime & Law. Jul2026, Vol. 32 Issue 6, p898-922. 25p. |
| Subjects: | Criminal investigation, Threat (Psychology), Police questioning, Intimidation, Memory, Presumption of innocence |
| Abstract: | Across three experiments, we assessed the effect of change in an alibi witness' account and interviewer's strategy on perceptions of alibi witness' credibility, suspect innocence, and interview quality. Participants listened to a mock-interview with an alibi witness who, as the interview progressed, either altered or maintained their alibi statements in response to an interviewer's implicit threat (Experiments 1-3), explanation of how memory works (Experiments 1-3), explicit threat (Experiments 2 & 3), or no attempt to influence the alibi witness's account (i.e. control condition, Experiments 2 & 3). A mini-meta-analysis showed that changes in the alibi witness' account negatively impacted ratings of suspect innocence (Md = −1.21) and alibi witness credibility (Md = -.79). The effect of changes in an alibi witness's statement as a function of interview strategy was largest for the control (Md = −0.65) and implicit threat (Md = −0.65) conditions, followed by the explicit threat (Md = −0.51), and memory-based explanations (Md = −0.42). The implications of these findings for alibi witnesses, suspects, and criminal investigations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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