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Securing the admissibility of witness statements: estimating the complexity and comprehension of Canadian 'KGB warnings'

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

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Securing the admissibility of witness statements: estimating the complexity and comprehension of Canadian 'KGB warnings'. / Luther, Kirk; Snook, Brent; MacDonald, Sarah et al.
In: Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, Vol. 30, No. 3, 18.09.2015, p. 166-175.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Luther, K, Snook, B, MacDonald, S & Barron, T 2015, 'Securing the admissibility of witness statements: estimating the complexity and comprehension of Canadian 'KGB warnings'', Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 166-175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-014-9147-0

APA

Luther, K., Snook, B., MacDonald, S., & Barron, T. (2015). Securing the admissibility of witness statements: estimating the complexity and comprehension of Canadian 'KGB warnings'. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 30(3), 166-175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-014-9147-0

Vancouver

Luther K, Snook B, MacDonald S, Barron T. Securing the admissibility of witness statements: estimating the complexity and comprehension of Canadian 'KGB warnings'. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology. 2015 Sept 18;30(3):166-175. Epub 2014 Apr 17. doi: 10.1007/s11896-014-9147-0

Author

Luther, Kirk ; Snook, Brent ; MacDonald, Sarah et al. / Securing the admissibility of witness statements : estimating the complexity and comprehension of Canadian 'KGB warnings'. In: Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology. 2015 ; Vol. 30, No. 3. pp. 166-175.

Bibtex

@article{120edffba76d4f249c83b345a1fd2c01,
title = "Securing the admissibility of witness statements: estimating the complexity and comprehension of Canadian 'KGB warnings'",
abstract = "The reading complexity of a sample of Canadian {"}KGB warnings{"} was assessed, along with the oral comprehension of one of those warnings. In Study 1, the complexity of 29 warnings was assessed using five readability measures. Results showed that the warnings are lengthy, are written at a high-grade level, contain complex sentences, and contain words used infrequently in our everyday language. In Study 2, university students (N = 80) viewed a video of an individual reading the warning aloud in its entirety (Full) or in four sections (Chunked), and comprehension was assessed using recall and recognition measures. Results showed that, when collapsed across the two conditions, participants tended to comprehend less than half of the contents of the warning. Presenting the warning in chunks produced higher levels of comprehension. The likelihood of witnesses understanding the content and consequences of the KGB warning are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)",
keywords = "KGB, comprehension, police, reading complexity, special warning",
author = "Kirk Luther and Brent Snook and Sarah MacDonald and Todd Barron",
year = "2015",
month = sep,
day = "18",
doi = "10.1007/s11896-014-9147-0",
language = "English",
volume = "30",
pages = "166--175",
journal = "Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology",
issn = "0882-0783",
publisher = "Springer Verlag",
number = "3",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Securing the admissibility of witness statements

T2 - estimating the complexity and comprehension of Canadian 'KGB warnings'

AU - Luther, Kirk

AU - Snook, Brent

AU - MacDonald, Sarah

AU - Barron, Todd

PY - 2015/9/18

Y1 - 2015/9/18

N2 - The reading complexity of a sample of Canadian "KGB warnings" was assessed, along with the oral comprehension of one of those warnings. In Study 1, the complexity of 29 warnings was assessed using five readability measures. Results showed that the warnings are lengthy, are written at a high-grade level, contain complex sentences, and contain words used infrequently in our everyday language. In Study 2, university students (N = 80) viewed a video of an individual reading the warning aloud in its entirety (Full) or in four sections (Chunked), and comprehension was assessed using recall and recognition measures. Results showed that, when collapsed across the two conditions, participants tended to comprehend less than half of the contents of the warning. Presenting the warning in chunks produced higher levels of comprehension. The likelihood of witnesses understanding the content and consequences of the KGB warning are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)

AB - The reading complexity of a sample of Canadian "KGB warnings" was assessed, along with the oral comprehension of one of those warnings. In Study 1, the complexity of 29 warnings was assessed using five readability measures. Results showed that the warnings are lengthy, are written at a high-grade level, contain complex sentences, and contain words used infrequently in our everyday language. In Study 2, university students (N = 80) viewed a video of an individual reading the warning aloud in its entirety (Full) or in four sections (Chunked), and comprehension was assessed using recall and recognition measures. Results showed that, when collapsed across the two conditions, participants tended to comprehend less than half of the contents of the warning. Presenting the warning in chunks produced higher levels of comprehension. The likelihood of witnesses understanding the content and consequences of the KGB warning are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract)

KW - KGB

KW - comprehension

KW - police

KW - reading complexity

KW - special warning

U2 - 10.1007/s11896-014-9147-0

DO - 10.1007/s11896-014-9147-0

M3 - Journal article

VL - 30

SP - 166

EP - 175

JO - Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology

JF - Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology

SN - 0882-0783

IS - 3

ER -