Citation

Ewens S, Vrij A, Mann S, Leal S, Jo E, Houston K. Psychol. Crime Law 2017; 23(2): 180-200.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/1068316X.2016.1239100

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The present experiment examined how the seating position of an interpreter during investigative interviews affects information elicitation and cues to deceit. A total of 60 native English speakers were interviewed in English and 200 non-native English speakers were interviewed in English (a non-native language) or through an interpreter who either sat next to the interviewer, behind the interviewee or interpreted via the telephone. Interviewees either lied or told the truth about a mock security meeting they watched. Interviewees who spoke in their native language provided more detail than interviewees who spoke in their native language through an interpreter or in a non-native language (English) without an interpreter. The latter groups did not differ. Additionally, the amount of detail differentiated truth tellers from liars in all conditions and interviewees found the presence of an interpreter to be a largely positive experience. The interpreter's seating position had no effect on the findings.

Language: en

Keywords

deception; information gathering; Interpreter; seating position; telephone interpreting