Deconstructing the evidence: The effects of reliability and proximity of evidence on suspect responses and counter-interrogation tactics.

Strategic disclosure of evidence is increasingly recommended by researchers. Yet, no research has evaluated how different characteristics of evidence (e.g., reliability, proximity) might affect interview outcomes. Indeed, when retrospectively reviewing the literature, we found that previous research had not considered evidence strength. To address this gap, we conducted three studies in which we manipulated evidence strength through reliability and proximity of evidence and examined participants’ rationale for responses. Study 1 found that participants were more consistent with evidence when it was more reliable, especially when it was highly specific. Study 2 replicated this pattern: Responses were most consistent with the evidence in the highly reliable condition, followed by the less reliable evidence. The finding replicated again compared to a no-evidence condition (Study 3a). Participants also accounted for evidence characteristics in self-reports (Study 3b). We demonstrated that evidence properties should be scrutinized when studying disclosure of information in investigative interviews.