Item Count Technique in Ranked Set Sampling

In situations where the estimation of the proportion of sensitive variables relies on the observations of real measurements that are difficult to obtain, there is a need to combine indirect questioning techniques. In the present work, the authors will focus on the item count technique, with alternative methods of sampling, such as the ranked set sampling. They are based on the idea proposed by Santiago et al., which combines the randomized response technique proposed by Warner together with ranked set sampling. The authors will carry out a simulation study to compare the item count technique under ranked set sampling and under simple random sampling without replacement.

Connected education and the co-construction of knowledge in a joint course for law and interpreting students

This article raises questions of education sociology with a focus on one of its core concepts: connectedness. It relates the dimensions of the connected curriculum to research on didactic approaches, showing how methods of connected learning and the co-construction of knowledge can be applied at different levels to enable students to gain subject-related, methodological and transdisciplinary communicative competence in addition to building relationships and cooperation among them across fields of study. These dimensions are presented using the example of the course “Questioning techniques from the perspective of criminology and interpreting”. During this course, students of law and interpreting had the opportunity to acquire both core theoretical knowledge of and practical experience in questioning techniques. This they did through role playing the questioning of defendants and witnesses that typically occurs in a courtroom from the perspective of both criminology and interpreting. The evaluation and feedback showed that the law and the interpreting students appreciated the way the course made them aware of issues in both their own and the other field, helped them to connect academic learning to professional competences and gave them insights into interprofessional cooperation in interpreted legal settings.

Confession to Make: Inadvertent Confessions and Admissions in United Kingdom and United States Police Contexts

Previous studies have addressed many different kinds of confessions in police investigations – real, false, coerced, fabricated – and highlighted both psychological and social mechanisms that underlie them. Here, we focus on inadvertent confessions and admissions, which occur when a suspect appears to be confessing without being fully aware of doing so, or when police officers believe they have a confession or admission of guilt when in fact this is not the case. The goal of the study is to explain when, how and why these confessions and admissions occur as well as how they are dealt with in two different jurisdictions, the United States and the United Kingdom. We use a discourse analysis approach because inadvertent confessions and admissions of guilt are the product of miscommunication – they happen because the speaker’s meaning and the hearer’s meaning are misaligned. The data consist of 50 interviews from the United Kingdom and 50 interrogations from the United States with both English-speaking and non-English speaking suspects. Our results demonstrate that inadvertent confessions can occur in both locales due to reliance on inference, which is inevitable since inference is the backbone of any human communication, as well as due to additional factors such as linguistic, cultural and procedural issues. We found that these phenomena are more frequent and less well controlled for in the United States context due to (a) no systematic checking of understanding, (b) adversarial questioning techniques and an absence of legal representation, and (c) lack of professional, high-quality interpreting. We discuss the implications of our findings for current efforts to improve access to justice, custodial procedures and language services, and we make recommendations for the implementation of our research in professional practice.

Understanding and addressing challenges faced by forensic interviewers in their work with children

<p>Questioning techniques in forensic interviews make a critical contribution to the amount and quality of children’s testimony (Lamb, La Rooy, Malloy, & Katz, 2011). Best practice recommendations advise that interviewers ask predominantly broad open-ended prompts (invitations and cued-invitations), minimise focused (direct) and closed-ended (option-posing) prompts, and avoid suggestive questions (Orbach & Pipe, 2011). Deviation from these recommendations is common, and deterioration in interviewing practice over time is typical unless interviewers received regular practice focused supervision and feedback (Lamb, Sternberg, Orbach, Esplin, & Mitchell, 2002). However, interviewers’ access to supervision is often limited (La Rooy, Lamb, & Memon, 2011). Guided self-review may be an effective method to complement traditional face-to-face supervision. This thesis examined: 1) forensic interviewing practice with children in New Zealand, 2) factors that influenced practice, 3) forensic interviewers’ perceptions of supervision, and 4) the effectiveness of a self-review tool designed to increase the use of invitations and cued-invitations. The first study was divided into two parts (Study 1a and Study 1b). In Study 1a, we evaluated the extent to which forensic interviewers in New Zealand adhered to best-practice recommendations, and examined factors (child, interviewer, allegation characteristics) that influenced practice. We examined 93 interviews with children (6-16 years old) about sexual abuse allegations that were conducted by 27 interviewers. Interviewers utilised more direct (57%), and option-posing prompts (20%), and fewer invitations and cued-invitations (22% combined) than stipulated by best practice recommendations, although very few suggestive questions were posed. A number of child, interviewer and allegation characteristics influenced questioning techniques. In Study 1b, we examined whether limited use of invitations and cued-invitations (in a larger sample of 103 interviews) was associated with decreased responsiveness from children, and failure to follow recommended practice of using such questions following any direct or option-posing questions (termed pairing). Although invitations were more likely to elicit responses (83%) than non-responses (17%) from children, non-responding was more highly associated with this type of prompt than expected by chance. Furthermore, interviewers did not adhere to the pairing principle, even though this practice was positively associated with higher proportion of invitations and cued-invitations. In the second study, we surveyed 39 forensic interviewers about their engagement in, and beliefs about supervision. Two-thirds of the interviewers indicated that they engage in practice-focused supervision. Out of these interviewers, over half (57.7%) received supervision regularly and were satisfied with the content of their supervision, and approximately half (53.9%) were satisfied with their supervision opportunities. Nonetheless, interviewers varied in terms of how satisfying they found their access to, and the content of supervision. Finally, a number of individual and organisational barriers (e.g., financial, time constraint and limited availability of supervisors) to accessing face-to-face supervision were identified. In the final study, we explored the impact of a self-review tool specifically designed to increase invitations and cued-invitations and adherence to the pairing principle. This pilot study used an AB design (baseline vs. intervention) with six interviewers (n=54 interviews with 4-16 year old children for alleged physical or sexual abuse). Interviews conducted during the self-review phase had a significantly higher proportion of invitations, and a lower proportion of direct prompts, and higher adherence to the pairing principle than interviews at baseline. Overall, our evaluation of forensic interviewing practice with children in New Zealand has highlighted areas of strengths as well as areas for improvement. In particular, consistent with international evaluations, an increase in the use of invitations and cued-invitations is recommended, and our results suggest that one way this may be achieved is by a greater focus in training and practice on the use of the pairing principle. Undoubtedly, forensic interviewing is a challenging task that requires highly specialised skills. Without regular supervision and feedback, it is difficult to maintain consistent and high standards of interviewing. Given the challenges that may limit forensic interviewers’ access to regular feedback and supervision, guided self-review may offer an accessible and low-cost complementary method to improve the conduct of forensic interviews with children. Better quality interviews increase the chance of investigations progressing when maltreatment has occurred, thereby protecting vulnerable children from further abuse, and innocent adults from the consequences of false allegations.</p>

Understanding and addressing challenges faced by forensic interviewers in their work with children

<p>Questioning techniques in forensic interviews make a critical contribution to the amount and quality of children’s testimony (Lamb, La Rooy, Malloy, & Katz, 2011). Best practice recommendations advise that interviewers ask predominantly broad open-ended prompts (invitations and cued-invitations), minimise focused (direct) and closed-ended (option-posing) prompts, and avoid suggestive questions (Orbach & Pipe, 2011). Deviation from these recommendations is common, and deterioration in interviewing practice over time is typical unless interviewers received regular practice focused supervision and feedback (Lamb, Sternberg, Orbach, Esplin, & Mitchell, 2002). However, interviewers’ access to supervision is often limited (La Rooy, Lamb, & Memon, 2011). Guided self-review may be an effective method to complement traditional face-to-face supervision. This thesis examined: 1) forensic interviewing practice with children in New Zealand, 2) factors that influenced practice, 3) forensic interviewers’ perceptions of supervision, and 4) the effectiveness of a self-review tool designed to increase the use of invitations and cued-invitations. The first study was divided into two parts (Study 1a and Study 1b). In Study 1a, we evaluated the extent to which forensic interviewers in New Zealand adhered to best-practice recommendations, and examined factors (child, interviewer, allegation characteristics) that influenced practice. We examined 93 interviews with children (6-16 years old) about sexual abuse allegations that were conducted by 27 interviewers. Interviewers utilised more direct (57%), and option-posing prompts (20%), and fewer invitations and cued-invitations (22% combined) than stipulated by best practice recommendations, although very few suggestive questions were posed. A number of child, interviewer and allegation characteristics influenced questioning techniques. In Study 1b, we examined whether limited use of invitations and cued-invitations (in a larger sample of 103 interviews) was associated with decreased responsiveness from children, and failure to follow recommended practice of using such questions following any direct or option-posing questions (termed pairing). Although invitations were more likely to elicit responses (83%) than non-responses (17%) from children, non-responding was more highly associated with this type of prompt than expected by chance. Furthermore, interviewers did not adhere to the pairing principle, even though this practice was positively associated with higher proportion of invitations and cued-invitations. In the second study, we surveyed 39 forensic interviewers about their engagement in, and beliefs about supervision. Two-thirds of the interviewers indicated that they engage in practice-focused supervision. Out of these interviewers, over half (57.7%) received supervision regularly and were satisfied with the content of their supervision, and approximately half (53.9%) were satisfied with their supervision opportunities. Nonetheless, interviewers varied in terms of how satisfying they found their access to, and the content of supervision. Finally, a number of individual and organisational barriers (e.g., financial, time constraint and limited availability of supervisors) to accessing face-to-face supervision were identified. In the final study, we explored the impact of a self-review tool specifically designed to increase invitations and cued-invitations and adherence to the pairing principle. This pilot study used an AB design (baseline vs. intervention) with six interviewers (n=54 interviews with 4-16 year old children for alleged physical or sexual abuse). Interviews conducted during the self-review phase had a significantly higher proportion of invitations, and a lower proportion of direct prompts, and higher adherence to the pairing principle than interviews at baseline. Overall, our evaluation of forensic interviewing practice with children in New Zealand has highlighted areas of strengths as well as areas for improvement. In particular, consistent with international evaluations, an increase in the use of invitations and cued-invitations is recommended, and our results suggest that one way this may be achieved is by a greater focus in training and practice on the use of the pairing principle. Undoubtedly, forensic interviewing is a challenging task that requires highly specialised skills. Without regular supervision and feedback, it is difficult to maintain consistent and high standards of interviewing. Given the challenges that may limit forensic interviewers’ access to regular feedback and supervision, guided self-review may offer an accessible and low-cost complementary method to improve the conduct of forensic interviews with children. Better quality interviews increase the chance of investigations progressing when maltreatment has occurred, thereby protecting vulnerable children from further abuse, and innocent adults from the consequences of false allegations.</p>

Sensitive attitudes and adherence to recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic: Comparing direct and indirect questioning techniques

During the COVID-19 pandemic, different behavioral measures were imposed to curb the spread of the virus. In a pre-registered study based on a quota-representative sample of adult Danish citizens (N = 1,031), we compared the prevalence estimates of self-reported handwashing, physical distancing, and attitudes towards the behavioral measures between people surveyed with a direct and an indirect questioning approach (i.e., the crosswise model). Moreover, we investigated two possible predictors for the sensitive attributes, namely (1) empathy for people vulnerable to the virus and (2) Honesty-Humility from the HEXACO Model of Personality. We also examined the interaction of both predictors with the questioning format. Results indicate that participants reported greater adherence to handwashing and physical distancing guidelines when asked directly rather than when asked indirectly. The overall attitudes regarding the behavioral measures did not differ between the questioning formats. Furthermore, empathy for people vulnerable to COVID-19 was negatively linked to nonadherence regarding handwashing and physical distancing, whereas Honesty-Humility was negatively linked to nonadherence regarding physical distancing.

Optimising a couples-focused intervention to increase couples’ HIV testing and counselling using the person-based approach: a qualitative study in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa

ObjectivesThis qualitative study explored how to optimise a couples-focused intervention to promote couples HIV testing and counselling (CHTC).SettingCommunity setting in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa.ParticipantsQualitative interviews were conducted with 20 couples who had participated in a couples-focused intervention and five staff members delivering the intervention. Partners were interviewed individually by researchers of the same gender.InterventionA couples-focused intervention comprised of two group sessions and four couples counselling sessions was previously shown to significantly increase uptake to CHTC in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. However, more than half of couples participating in the intervention still chose not to test together during follow-up.AnalysisThe transcripts were analysed using the table of changes from the person-based approach. Proposed optimisations were discussed with a community group to ensure the intervention was as persuasive and acceptable as possible.ResultsMany couples found it challenging to discuss CHTC with their partner due to an implied lack of trust. Optimisations to the intervention were identified to increase readiness to discuss CHTC, including education about serodiscordance, discussions about CHTC by peer mentors and open discussion of personal barriers to CHTC during couples’ counselling sessions. Additional training for staff in open questioning techniques could help them feel more comfortable to explore couples’ perceived barriers to CHTC, rather than advising couples to test. A logic model was developed to show anticipated mechanisms through which the optimised intervention would increase uptake to CHTC, including increasing knowledge, increasing positive outcome beliefs and managing negative emotions.ConclusionsIn-depth qualitative research informed optimisations to a couples-focused intervention for further evaluation in South Africa to encourage uptake to CHTC. Suggestions are made for optimal methods to gain open feedback on intervention experiences where participants may be reluctant to share negative views.

Nothing but the truth? Effects of faking on the validity of the crosswise model

In self-reports, socially desirable responding threatens the validity of prevalence estimates for sensitive personal attitudes and behaviors. Indirect questioning techniques such as the crosswise model attempt to control for the influence of social desirability bias. The crosswise model has repeatedly been found to provide more valid prevalence estimates than direct questions. We investigated whether crosswise model estimates are also less susceptible to deliberate faking than direct questions. To this end, we investigated the effect of “fake good” instructions on responses to direct and crosswise model questions. In a sample of 1,946 university students, 12-month prevalence estimates for a sensitive road traffic behavior were higher and thus presumably more valid in the crosswise model than in a direct question. Moreover, “fake good” instructions severely impaired the validity of the direct questioning estimates, whereas the crosswise model estimates were unaffected by deliberate faking. Participants also reported higher levels of perceived confidentiality and a lower perceived ease of faking in the crosswise model compared to direct questions. Our results corroborate previous studies finding the crosswise model to be an effective tool for counteracting the detrimental effects of positive self-presentation in surveys on sensitive issues.

A thalamo-centric neural signature for restructuring negative self-beliefs

Negative self-beliefs are a core feature of psychopathology. Despite this, we have a limited understanding of the brain mechanisms by which negative self-beliefs are cognitively restructured. Using a novel paradigm, we had participants use Socratic questioning techniques to restructure self-beliefs during ultra-high resolution 7-Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging (UHF fMRI) scanning. Cognitive restructuring elicited prominent activation in a fronto-striato-thalamic circuit, including the mediodorsal thalamus (MD), a group of deep subcortical nuclei believed to synchronize and integrate prefrontal cortex activity, but which has seldom been directly examined with fMRI due to its small size. Increased activity was also identified in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), a region consistently activated by internally focused mental processing, as well as in lateral prefrontal regions associated with regulating emotional reactivity. Using Dynamic Causal Modelling (DCM), evidence was found to support the MD as having a strong excitatory effect on the activity of regions within the broader network mediating cognitive restructuring. Moreover, the degree to which participants modulated MPFC-to-MD effective connectivity during cognitive restructuring predicted their individual tendency to engage in repetitive negative thinking. Our findings represent a major shift from a cortico-centric framework of cognition and provide important mechanistic insights into how the MD facilitates key processes in cognitive interventions for common psychiatric disorders. In addition to relaying integrative information across basal ganglia and the cortex, we propose a multifaceted role for the MD whose broad excitatory pathways act to increase synchrony between cortical regions to sustain complex mental representations, including the self.

A Firefighter Saving Virtual Addictions

Virtual addiction is, like all addictions, first and foremost an attempt to find a SOLUTION by a patient, faced with a problem in their relationship to the world, to others or to themselves. This attempt at a solution, not being the best, becomes a PROBLEM in a second step.Very often, the solution can emerge from the problem if it is well identified, via systemic modelling (modelling of the relationship between the individual and the relational system that surrounds him). So, the questioning techniques specific to systemists and so-called “brief” therapists and hypnotic techniques (including HTSMA, EMDR) are an excellent means by which a therapist can help treat his patient.We see in the clinical illustration above that starting from the external screen to which the child is addicted and repatriating it inside oneself, and making it a "psychic working screen", will be able to quickly improve the symptoms.