2018 Volume 23 Issue 1 Pages 45-55
The purpose of this study was to examine tactics that investigators in Japan regarded as effective to elicit true statements from the interviewees in investigative interviews. Six versions of a questionnaire, that were created using a combination of (a) interviewee type (three conditions: suspect, victim, or eyewitness), and (b) interviewee's attitude (two conditions: cooperative or not cooperative). Seven hundred and forty investigators were randomly given one of the questionnaires and asked to rate on a 5-point Likert scale the degree to which they should use each of 65 questionnaire items in an investigative interviewing. In the results, a factor analysis revealed five tactics: Preparation and introduction, Attentiveness, Approaching, Understanding, and Emotional. Investigators indicated that they should use Preparation and introduction, Approaching and Understanding. The pattern of results was slightly different depending on the interviewee type. Interviewee's attitude (i.e., cooperative or not cooperative) had little effect on the ratings.
