Psychological Assessment of Witness Statements with the Use of Modern Content Analysis Methods Cover Image

Psychologiczna ocena zeznań świadków, przy zastosowaniu współczesnych metod analizy treściowej
Psychological Assessment of Witness Statements with the Use of Modern Content Analysis Methods

Author(s): Bartosz Wojciech Wojciechowski
Subject(s): Psychology
Published by: Instytut Profilaktyki Społecznej i Resocjalizacji UW
Keywords: content analysis methods; psychological assessment; witness statements

Summary/Abstract: It is argued that content analysis methods, such as Statement Validity Assessment (SVA),Reality Monitoring (RM), and Scientific Content Analysis (SCAN), considering their low concurrent validity, should not be used as a basis for assessments delivered for the purposes of court proceedings. Our aim was to develop a new technique for the analysis of adult witness statements based on the multi-dimensional analysis of psychological reliability factors. The Multivariable Adult’s Statement Assessment Method (MASAM) was theoretically grounded in the hypothesis by Udo Undeutch, completed by the following additional assumptions: each deposition bears both true and false contents; the reliability of statements should not be assessed holistically; the psychological assessment of the reliability factors requires the previous analysis of variables significant for the formation of statements. The study covered 12 students in forensic psychology (out of which 6 used SVA, RM and SCAN techniques, and the other six MASAM one) who assessed 30 depositions (15 true and 15 false ones). The results suggest that MASAM helps establish a more accurate assessment of the statement veracity. The concordance coefficients for assessments made by expert judges were statistically higher when MASAM was applied.

  • Issue Year: 2012
  • Issue No: 19
  • Page Range: 263-281
  • Page Count: 19
  • Language: Polish