Suspicious or autistic? evaluating responses to a behavioral analysis interview

The Behavioral Analysis Interview (BAI) of the Reid Interrogation technique (Inbau, et al., 2013) consists of 15 questions to identify deception or truthfulness. Research indicates these cues are unreliable and trained officers are no better than chance at detecting deception (Kassin, Meissner & Norwick, 2005; Meissner & Kassin, 2002). This study aimed to examine how innocent autistic individuals’ response to the BAI in a mock arson case were perceived. College psychology students (n=218) rated the truthfulness/deceptiveness reading one of the two responses, with half informed of the diagnosis. Overall, the responses were rated as more deceptive when the suspect was not identified as autistic. Undisclosed autism led to higher ratings of deception, particularly when response contained nonverbal cues like long pauses or lacking eye contact. This research highlights the need for interview criteria adjustments for individuals with autism to prevent misinterpreting their innocent responses.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Author dc:creator

• Jackson, Kendall

Contributors dc:contributor

• Warren, Amye
• Buck, Dave; Shelton, Jill T.
• College of Arts and Sciences

• Police questioning--United States
• Autistic people--Psychology

Licence

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English, eng

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/831

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-2006