Police suspect interviews with autistic adults: The impact of truth telling versus deception on testimony

Bagnall, Ralph; Cadman, Aimee; Russell, Ailsa; Brosnan, Mark; Otte, Marco; Maras, Katie

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1117415

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…Consequently, autistic adults may include more specific detail in both truthful and deceptive responses relative to neurotypical adults. Only one study to date has examined details in deceptive responses; in Bagnall et al (2023) , neurotypical and autistic adults enacted a mock-crime and completed a face-to-face interview in which all participants were instructed to claim their innocence. They discovered that “innocent” and “guilty” autistic and neurotypical mock-suspects reported similar levels of investigation-relevant information.…”

Section: Step 2: the Communicator’s Behavior Provides Cues To Decepti...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, it is speculated that in comparison to neurotypical individuals, autistic individuals may utilize socio-cognitive strategies to counteract their difficulties with ToM (e.g., problems with perspective-taking and understanding others’ thoughts and emotions). They may employ working memory and social learning to connect past behaviors and contexts to interpret deceptive behaviors ( Livingston et al, 2019a , b ; Bagnall et al, 2023 ). However, as some autistic adults are known to experience difficulties with their working memory ( Hill, 2004 ) and have marked difficulties with social learning ( American Psychiatric Association, 2013 ), such theoretical claims need to be directly investigated before we can draw conclusions about autistic adults’ use of socio-cognitive strategies during deceit.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Brunswik Lens Model: a theoretical framework for advancing understanding of deceptive communication in autism

Blackhurst,

Warmelink,

Roestorf

et al. 2024

Front. Psychol.

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Due to differences in social communication and cognitive functioning, autistic adults may have greater difficulty engaging in and detecting deception compared to neurotypical adults. Consequently, autistic adults may experience strained social relationships or face increased risk of victimization. It is therefore crucial that research investigates the psychological mechanisms that are responsible for autistic adults’ difficulties in the deception process in order to inform interventions required to reduce risk. However, weaknesses of extant research exploring deception in autism include a heavy focus on children and limited theoretical exploration of underlying psychological mechanisms. To address these weaknesses, this review aims to introduce a system-level theoretical framework to the study of deception in autistic adulthood: The Brunswik Lens Model of Deception. Here, we provide a comprehensive account of how autism may influence all processes involved in deception, including: Choosing to Lie (1), Producing Deception Cues (2), Perceiving Deception Cues (3), and Making the Veracity Decision (4). This review also offers evidence-based, theoretical predictions and testable hypotheses concerning how autistic and neurotypical adults’ behavior may differ at each stage in the deception process. The call to organize future research in relation to a joint theoretical perspective will encourage the field to make substantive, theoretically motivated progress toward the development of a comprehensive model of deception in autistic adulthood. Moreover, the utilization of the Brunswik Lens Model of Deception in future autism research may assist in the development of interventions to help protect autistic adults against manipulation and victimization.

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Section: Step 2: the Communicator’s Behavior Provides Cues To Decepti...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Brunswik Lens Model: a theoretical framework for advancing understanding of deceptive communication in autism

Blackhurst,

Warmelink,

Roestorf

et al. 2024

Front. Psychol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Examining the effects of evidence disclosure timing and strength on information inconsistencies and provision within investigative interviews

Polman,

Luther,

de Almeida

et al. 2024

Psychology, Crime & Law

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Autistic adults’ inclination to lie in everyday situations

Bagnall,

Russell,

Brosnan

et al. 2023

Autism

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Autistic children and adolescents often have greater difficulty engaging in deception than their non-autistic peers. However, deception in autistic adulthood has received little attention to date. This study examined whether autistic and non-autistic adults differed in their inclination to lie in everyday situations and the factors that underpin this. Forty-one autistic and 41 non-autistic participants completed self-report measures relating to their inclination to lie, ability to lie and moral attitudes about the acceptability of lying. Participants also undertook a reaction-time test of lie-telling, as well as theory of mind and working memory measures. Autistic and non-autistic adults did not significantly differ in their inclination to lie in everyday situations. The degree to which lying was viewed as morally acceptable positively predicted both groups’ inclination to lie. The remaining factors underpinning the inclination to lie differed between groups. Lower self-rated lying ability and slower lie speed predicted a reduced inclination to lie in autistic participants, whereas higher theory of mind and working memory capacity predicted a reduced inclination to lie in the non-autistic group. Implications for our understanding of deception in autistic and non-autistic adults are discussed. Lay abstract Differences in social communication and understanding others’ mental states may mean that autistic adults are less likely to deceive others than non-autistic individuals. We investigated whether autistic and non-autistic adults differ in their inclination to lie and which psychological factors are involved in the inclination to lie. We found that autistic and non-autistic groups reported a similar inclination to lie, and the extent to which participants viewed lying as acceptable helped to explain their inclination to deceive others. However, the other underlying psychological factors associated with deception inclination differed between autistic and non-autistic groups. Autistic adults’ belief about their ability to lie and also how quickly they could lie helped to explain whether they were more or less inclined to lie. For non-autistic adults, their memory and ability to understand others’ mental states helped to explain their lie inclination. We discuss these findings and recommend areas for future research.

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Police suspect interviews with autistic adults: The impact of truth telling versus deception on testimony

Cited by 4 publications

References 80 publications

The Brunswik Lens Model: a theoretical framework for advancing understanding of deceptive communication in autism

The Brunswik Lens Model: a theoretical framework for advancing understanding of deceptive communication in autism

Examining the effects of evidence disclosure timing and strength on information inconsistencies and provision within investigative interviews

Autistic adults’ inclination to lie in everyday situations

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