Individual differences and experimentation: Complementary approaches to interrogative suggestibility

TitleIndividual differences and experimentation: Complementary approaches to interrogative suggestibility
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication1986
AuthorsSchooler J.W., Loftus E.F.
JournalSocial Behavior
Volume1
Issue2
Pagination105-112
Abstract

Leading questions in police interrogations can have a substantial impact on eyewitnesses reports. Two different approachcs to the influence of interrogator biases are reviewed: the individual differences approach (eg. Gudjonsson and Clark, this issue) considers the factors that determine why individuals respond differently to leading questions: The experimental approach (e.g. Loftus, Miller and Burns, 1978) examines differences in the conditions under which leading questions are likely to affect witnesses’ reports. These complementary approaches have much to offer one another. The individual differences approach could benefit from considcring some of the central cognitive mechanisms, such as discrepancy detection, that experimentation has identified as mediating suggustibility. Experimentalist, however, could enrich their models by explonng how differences in personality and cognitive abilities influence the impact of leadin questions.

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