interviewing autistic witnesses

Question 1

those with autism are more likely to be involved in what type of crime?

Answer 1

crimes against another person e.g sexual offences, robbery.

Question 2

state reasons for autistic offending.

Answer 2

• idiosyncratic rationalisations
• obsession/ special interests
• revenge
• difficulty interpreting rules
• social naivete and exploration
• social skills difficulties and misunderstandings

Question 3

name symtoms of autism.

Answer 3

• memory difficulties
• rigid and inflexible thinking
• focus on the details

Question 4

what aspects of memory is impaired in people with autism?

Answer 4

• free recall
• working memory
• relational memory
• episodic memory

Question 5

describe aspects of the cognitive interview

Answer 5

• context reinstatement
• multiple and varied retrieval
• report all
• transfer control

Question 6

what interview induced more correct details.

Answer 6

cognitive interview rather than the structured interview.

Question 7

what specific details were those with ASD less accurate on?

Answer 7

surrounding and object details.

Question 8

how is the self-administered interview similar and different from the cognitive interview?

Answer 8

both use context reinstatement, and report all instruction, but there is no social component and involves writing down details.

Question 9

how can drawing help to improve recall?

Answer 9

• help people to focus, retrieve more info and reduce anxiety.

Question 10

in what ways can using sketch-RC improve witness accuracy?

Answer 10

• visual information processing
• not interview led
• does not contaminate memories
• ASD and TD comparison remembered significantly more correct details using sketch plan in SAI than control.

Question 11

state problems with free recall in autism.

Answer 11

• cognitive load:
• report all
• executive resources/ processing
• retrieval processes
• narrative coherence

Question 12

what techniques work well on those with autism?

Answer 12

• break down into smaller segments.
• minimise: cognitive load, demands on executive function, set shifting and working memory.
• drawing

Question 13

define witness-aimed-first-accout

Answer 13

breaking down the event, towards the end, the wall is covered with useful notes that witness can refer to, making it far less daunting for them to describe the event as a whole.

Question 14

how can open questions be problematic.

Answer 14

• can generate massive (irrelevant) response or minimal (yes/no) response.

Question 15

define suggestibility.

Answer 15

extent to which people come to accept messages the are communicated to them and hold them as their own thoughts.

Question 16

define compliance,

Answer 16

consciously going along with suggestions even though privately they are not agreed with.

Question 17

why might those with autism be more complaint?

Answer 17

• eagerness to please

- avoid conflict

Question 18

it is difficult to detect autism, how can we know someone has autism?

Answer 18

themselves or a loved one needs to disclose diagnosis, although some are unwilling to do so.