Isabel Picornell PhD

Written witness statements are a unique source for the study of high-stakes textual deception. To date, however, there is no distinction in the way that they and other forms of verbal deception have been analysed, with written statements treated as extensions of transcribed versions of oral reports. Given the highly context-dependent nature of cues, it makes sense to take the characteristics of the medium into account when analysing for deceptive language. This study examines the characteristic features of witness narratives and proposes a new approach to search for deception cues. Narratives are treated as a progression of episodes over time, and deception as a progression of acts over time. This allows for the profiling of linguistic bundles in sequence, revealing the statements’ internal gradient, and deceivers’ choice of deceptive linguistic strategy. Study results suggest that, at least in the context of written witness statements, the weighting of individual features as decept...

Little research has been undertaken into high stakes deception, and even less into high stakes deception in written text. This study addresses that gap. In this thesis, I present a new approach to detecting deception in written narratives based on the definition of deception as a progression and focusing on identifying deceptive linguistic strategy rather than individual cues. I propose a new approach for subdividing whole narratives into their constituent episodes, each of which is linguistically profiled and their progression mapped to identify authors’ deceptive strategies based on cue interaction. I conduct a double blind study using qualitative and quantitative analysis in which linguistic strategy (cue interaction and progression) and overall cue presence are used to predict deception in witness statements. This results in linguistic strategy analysis correctly predicting 85% of deceptive statements (92% overall) compared to 54% (64% overall) with cues identified on a whole st...

Detecting Deception is part of the Wiley Series Psychology of Crime, Policing and Law. The purpose of this series is to inform practitioners involved in the many aspects of the judicial process about the latest research ndings which may have implications for real world policy and practice in crime investigation, detection, policing, and Law. Detecting Deception is eectively an update on two previous books in the series, Detecting Lies and Deceit: The Psychology of Lying and the Implications for Professional Practice (2000) and Detecting Lies and Deceit: Pitfalls and Opportunities (2008) by Aldert Vrij, Professor of Applied Social Psychology at the University of Portsmouth. However, this latest publication is an edited book, with fourteen chapters written by leading psychology researchers in the field, providing readers with the most comprehensive review of the state of deception detection research, theory, and practice at the present time.

Communication in Forensic Contexts provides in-depth coverage of the complex area of communication in forensic situations. Drawing on expertise from forensic psychology, linguistics and law enforcement worldwide, the text bridges the gap between these fields in a definitive guide to best practice.

Offers best practice for understanding and improving communication in forensic contexts, including interviewing of victims, witnesses and suspects, discourse in courtrooms, and discourse via interpreters
Bridges the knowledge gaps between forensic psychology, forensic linguistics and law enforcement, with chapters written by teams bringing together expertise from each field
Published in collaboration with the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group, dedicated to furthering evidence-based practice and practice-based research amongst researchers and practitioners
International, cross-disciplinary team includes contributors from North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, and from psychology, linguistics and forensic practice.
http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118769236.html

Detecting Deception is part of the Wiley Series Psychology of Crime, Policing and Law. The purpose of this series is to inform practitioners involved in the many aspects of the judicial process about the latest research ndings which may have implications for real world policy and practice in crime investigation, detection, policing, and Law. Detecting
Deception is eectively an update on two previous books in the series, Detecting Lies and Deceit: The Psychology of Lying and the Implications for Professional Practice (2000) and Detecting Lies and Deceit: Pitfalls and Opportunities (2008) by Aldert Vrij, Professor of Applied Social Psychology at the University of Portsmouth. However, this latest
publication is an edited book, with fourteen chapters written by leading psychology researchers in the field, providing readers with the most comprehensive review of the state of deception detection research, theory, and practice at the present time.