An overview of mock interviews as a training tool for interviewers of children

Powell, Martine B.; Brubacher, Sonja P.; Baugerud, Gunn Astrid

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105685

Cited by 16 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…Controlled efficacy studies maximize the chance to observe an intervention effect (Singal et al, 2014), which makes them appropriate to test if an adapted program yields similar learning outcomes to the original, or if further adaptations improve outcomes. When computer interview assessments are not accessible, mock interviews with trained adults provide a standardized performance evaluation in controlled conditions (Powell et al, 2022). As for effectiveness studies, they account for external factors that could moderate an intervention effect in real practice (Singal et al, 2014), thus they are essential to establish external validity of adapted programs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When defining strategies to train the first group of specialized child interviewers before the rolling out of the new law in Chile, the training model described by Benson and Powell (2015) was adopted for a number of reasons (Navarro et al, 2016). Specifically, the model focused on enhancing open-ended question use and other best practice behaviors, its components were supported by empirical research (e.g., Powell et al, 2022; Yan et al, 2023; Yii et al, 2014), and the program had the best-reported evidence of effectiveness and skill retention (Benson & Powell, 2015; Powell et al, 2016). Importantly, the program was delivered entirely through remote means (i.e., online platform and voice calls), which allowed the ease of delivery across Chile, a country with many sparsely populated regions.…”

Section: Adaptation and Pilot Of A Training Program To The Chilean Co...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effectiveness and efficacy of a culturally adapted training program for child interviewers in Chile.

Navarro Medel,

Powell,

Sharman

et al. 2024

Psychology, Public Policy, and Law

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Advances in investigative interviewer training, mostly developed in Western-Anglo-Saxon contexts, are not necessarily applicable to other cultures and languages. This research examined the efficacy and effectiveness of a training program for child interviewers-previously tested with English-speaking cohorts-when adapted to a Latin American Spanish-speaking context. Twenty-eight Chilean interviewers completed an online training program. Study 1 assessed their performance in mock interviews before training, immediately after training, and 13-21 months later at follow-up (N = 84). Study 2 examined field interviews about alleged child sexual abuse (N = 166). The performance of interviewers from Study 1 after training and at follow-up was compared to a group of 14 untrained interviewers. Dependent measures included a set of indicators of best practice interviewing (e.g., open-ended question use). Linear mixed effects analyses demonstrated robust training effects. Training improved most measures of best practice interviewing in mock and field interviews (including open-ended question use). Improvements were sustained up to 21 months in mock interviews and some up to 22 months in field interviews. Culturally specific attributes were evident in the interviewers' performance in the field. This work demonstrates that evidence-based interviewer training can be culturally adapted and yield positive training outcomes. Findings also suggest that culture-related factors do not interfere with learning best practice interviewing, but along with other unknown contextual factors, they might moderate the use of learned skills in real-world settings. Implications for policy and recommendations for researchers and practitioners aiming to adapt evidence-based training programs to new contexts are drawn from the findings.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Adaptation and Pilot Of A Training Program To The Chilean Co...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness and efficacy of a culturally adapted training program for child interviewers in Chile.

Navarro Medel,

Powell,

Sharman

et al. 2024

Psychology, Public Policy, and Law

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“…Were great effort has been invested to design more effective interview training programs (e.g., Powell et al, 2014;Pompedda et al, 2015;Haginoya et al, 2020;Hassan et al, 2022) where continuing practice and ongoing feedback have been used to sustain the training effects (for a recent review, see Powell et al, 2022). Beyond the established efficacy of these training programs, serious gaming (Wouters et al, 2013) involving simulated avatar interviews (Pompedda et al, 2015) can be used as a tool to study the fundamental psychological processes, such as emotional impact on decision making during interviews (Zhang et al, 2022;Segal et al, 2023).…”

Section: Not Recommended Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, even trained interviewers sometimes fail to follow best practice guidelines without continuous feedback and involvement in multiple training modules ( Powell et al, 2008 ; Lamb, 2016 ) and tend to ask close-ended, leading, and repeated questions, thus increasing the likelihood of gathering only partial or even misleading information ( Santtila et al, 2004 ; Bruck et al, 2006 ; Thoresen et al, 2009 ; Leach et al, 2022 ). To address these issues, great effort has been invested to design more effective interview training programs (e.g., Powell et al, 2014 ; Pompedda et al, 2015 ; Haginoya et al, 2020 ; Hassan et al, 2022 ) where continuing practice and ongoing feedback have been used to sustain the training effects (for a recent review, see Powell et al, 2022 ). Beyond the established efficacy of these training programs, serious gaming ( Wouters et al, 2013 ) involving simulated avatar interviews ( Pompedda et al, 2015 ) can be used as a tool to study the fundamental psychological processes, such as emotional impact on decision making during interviews ( Zhang et al, 2022 ; Segal et al, 2023 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between emotions and psychophysiological states and confirmation bias in question formulation in ongoing simulated investigative interviews of child sexual abuse

et al. 2023

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IntroductionIn forensic settings interviewers are advised to ask as many open-ended questions as possible. However, even experts may have difficulty following this advice potentially negatively impacting an investigation. Here, we sought to investigate how emotions and psychophysiological parameters are associated with question formulation in real time in an ongoing (simulated) child sexual abuse (CSA) interview.MethodIn a experimental study, psychology students (N = 60, Mage = 22.75) conducted two interviews with child avatars, while their emotions (anger, sadness, disgust, surprise and relief), GSR and heart rate (HR) were registered.ResultsFirst, we found that general emotionality related to CSA and perceived realness of the avatars was associated with stronger overall emotional reactions. Second, we found that closed (vs. open) questions were preceded by more facially observable anger, but not disgust, sadness, surprise or relief. Third, closed (vs. open) questions were preceded by higher GSR resistance and lower heart rate.DiscussionResults suggest for the first time that emotions and psychophysiological states can drive confirmation bias in question formulation in real time in CSA.

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“…This complexity reveals investigative interviewing to be cognitively demanding, a finding supported by recent research that shows that high cognitive load while interviewing is a predictor of low performance ( Hanway et al, 2021 ). In a training context, planning the level of training—such as the asking of basic OEQs or the fine-tuning of skills needed to deal sensitively with reluctance—and designing feedback must be based on principles of human learning and adapted to the trainee’s level of performance (e.g., Powell, 2008 ; Cyr, 2022 ; Powell et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing questioning skills through child avatar chatbot training with feedback

et al. 2023

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Training child investigative interviewing skills is a specialized task. Those being trained need opportunities to practice their skills in realistic settings and receive immediate feedback. A key step in ensuring the availability of such opportunities is to develop a dynamic, conversational avatar, using artificial intelligence (AI) technology that can provide implicit and explicit feedback to trainees. In the iterative process, use of a chatbot avatar to test the language and conversation model is crucial. The model is fine-tuned with interview data and realistic scenarios. This study used a pre-post training design to assess the learning effects on questioning skills across four child interview sessions that involved training with a child avatar chatbot fine-tuned with interview data and realistic scenarios. Thirty university students from the areas of child welfare, social work, and psychology were divided into two groups; one group received direct feedback (n = 12), whereas the other received no feedback (n = 18). An automatic coding function in the language model identified the question types. Information on question types was provided as feedback in the direct feedback group only. The scenario included a 6-year-old girl being interviewed about alleged physical abuse. After the first interview session (baseline), all participants watched a video lecture on memory, witness psychology, and questioning before they conducted two additional interview sessions and completed a post-experience survey. One week later, they conducted a fourth interview and completed another post-experience survey. All chatbot transcripts were coded for interview quality. The language model’s automatic feedback function was found to be highly reliable in classifying question types, reflecting the substantial agreement among the raters [Cohen’s kappa (κ) = 0.80] in coding open-ended, cued recall, and closed questions. Participants who received direct feedback showed a significantly higher improvement in open-ended questioning than those in the non-feedback group, with a significant increase in the number of open-ended questions used between the baseline and each of the other three chat sessions. This study demonstrates that child avatar chatbot training improves interview quality with regard to recommended questioning, especially when combined with direct feedback on questioning.

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An overview of mock interviews as a training tool for interviewers of children

Cited by 16 publications

References 75 publications

Effectiveness and efficacy of a culturally adapted training program for child interviewers in Chile.

Effectiveness and efficacy of a culturally adapted training program for child interviewers in Chile.

Associations between emotions and psychophysiological states and confirmation bias in question formulation in ongoing simulated investigative interviews of child sexual abuse

Enhancing questioning skills through child avatar chatbot training with feedback

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