Amelia Mindthoff

Iowa State University | ISU · College of Veterinary Medicine

Confessions represent one of the most influential types of evidence, and research has shown that mock jurors often fail to dismiss unreliable confession evidence. However, recent studies suggest that jurors might believe in the false confession phenomenon more than they once did. One possible reason for this could be increased publicity regarding f...

Investigative interviews are an essential tool for any criminal investigation and are conducted across a variety of contexts and subject populations. In each context, key psychological processes function to regulate communication between an interviewer and a subject – from developing rapport and trust, to facilitating memory retrieval, to assessing...

Interviewing and interrogation practices have evolved over the past century. “Third degree” methods of physical and psychological coercion were replaced by psychologically-manipulative tactics that seek a confession; however, it was not until instances of false confession that led to wrongful conviction came to light that investigative interviewing...

Objective: Law enforcement officers often encounter alcohol-intoxicated suspects, suggesting that many suspects are presented with the challenge of grasping the meaning and significance of their Miranda rights while intoxicated. Such comprehension is crucial, given that Miranda is intended to minimize the likelihood of coercive interrogations resu...

Objective: Over the past 4 decades, discrepant research findings have emerged in the juror–confession literature, prompting the need for a systematic review and meta-analysis that assesses the effect of confession evidence (coerced or noncoerced) on conviction rates and the efficacy of trial safeguards. Hypotheses: We did not predict any directiona...

General Audience Summary Understanding the causes of wrongful conviction with a focus on conviction integrity has received considerable attention across psychology, criminal justice, and the law over recent decades, with false confessions being identified as a common contributor to miscarriages of justice. Despite evidence that suspects are often i...

Objectives Past research has investigated factors that condition the association between self-control and antisocial behavior. Absent from consideration has been the possible moderating effect of alcohol intoxication. Methods Using a placebo-controlled experimental design, we explore whether alcohol intoxication moderates the association between s...

This archival study was the first in Sweden, and the first outside of the US and the UK, to apply the (Kelly et al., Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 9, 165-178, 2013) taxonomy of interrogation methods framework to repeated police interrogations of adult suspects in high-stakes crimes. Audio/video recordings (N = 19) were collected from the Swed...

Research has demonstrated that psychologically-coercive tactics can increase the risk of false confessions. Given that jurors are decision-makers in our criminal justice system, it is essential to understand how they perceive such interrogation tactics and if certain juror demographics relate to these perceptions. The present study therefore focuse...

Rationale It is not uncommon for police to question alcohol-intoxicated witnesses and suspects; yet, the full extent to which intoxication impacts individuals’ suggestibility in the investigative interviewing context remains unclear. Objective The present study sought to measure the effect of alcohol-intoxication on interviewee suggestibility by i...

Objective: Interested adults, such as parents and attorneys, may pose as safeguards against juveniles' vulnerabilities during custodial interrogations; yet, the trial-level ramifications of their presence are unknown. The current research examined mock jurors' perceptions and case decisions after they read about disputed juvenile confession eviden...

Alcohol-intoxicated suspects’ confessions are admissible in U.S. courts; however, it is unknown how jurors evaluate such confessions. Study 1 assessed potential jurors’ perceptions of intoxication in interrogative contexts. Many respondents were unaware that questioning intoxicated suspects and presenting subsequent confessions in court are legal,...

Police commonly interview intoxicated suspects. This is concerning because intoxication often leads to a higher risk for impulsive decision-making, and reduces inhibition and consideration of the future. However, the manner in which intoxication affects people’s reporting of unethical or criminal actions carried out by themselves or others is unkno...

Police commonly interact with intoxicated suspects; however, little is known regarding intoxicated suspects’ ability to understand and apply their Miranda rights. In the present study, laboratory participants were randomly assigned to alcohol, placebo, or control drinking conditions. Participants’ Miranda comprehension was analyzed using the Mirand...

Confession evidence is exceptionally strong (e.g., Kassin & Neumann, 1997); thus, understanding whether juror characteristics influence their perceptions of confession evidence is crucial to legal players’ trial strategies. Several past studies have found no significant correlations between certain juror demographics/personal beliefs (e.g., race/et...

Objectives: Many victims, witnesses, and suspects are intoxicated at the time of the crime and during the initial investigation. For example, over 80% of a U.S. law enforcement sample reported that contact with intoxicated suspects was common (Evans et al., 2009). In the U.S., intoxicated suspects are routinely interrogated using similar techniques...

The jury is often celebrated as an important symbol of American democracy. Yet much has changed since 1791 when the Sixth Amendment guaranteed all citizens the right to a jury trial in criminal prosecutions. Psychological and legal scholars have empirically evaluated many claims about the strengths and limitations of the jury system. Now, scientifi...

Introduction: Police often use handheld breathalyzers to make preliminary estimations of victims and suspect’s intoxication level. These initial measurements are often not valid as evidence in court. However, it is not always feasible for the officers to take the person to the police station and use a benchtop instrument for assessment. Aim: This s...

Although it is well known that exposure to misinformation after an event can alter memory, less known are the effects of being presented with different amounts of misinformation. The present study examined (a) how exposure to different amounts of misinformation affects memory, (b) how sensitively individuals monitor the accuracy of a (mis)informati...

This study examined the reliability between two handheld BACtrack S80 Pro Breathalyzers and the benchtop instrument Intoxilyzer 5000. The latter instrument was calibrated every day and is on the Department of Transportation’s Conforming Products List of Evidential Breath Alcohol Measurement Devices. Four different BAC readings were taken from 60 in...

Many witnesses and victims are intoxicated, but few studies have examined how alcohol affects eyewitness memory. The present study compared the effects of different interview approaches on intoxicated witnesses’ recall of an interactive event. Participants were randomly assigned to a condition within a 3 (Intoxication level: sober vs. placebo vs. i...

Many witnesses and victims are intoxicated, but few studies have examined how alcohol affects memory. The present study compared the effects of different interview approaches on intoxicated witnesses’ recall of an interactive event. Participants were randomly assigned to a condition within a 3 (Intoxication level: sober vs. placebo vs. intoxicated)...

Intoxicated witnesses and suspects in the U.S. are routinely questioned by law enforcement yet little is known about the effects of intoxication in legal contexts. The sparse research on the effect of intoxication on suggestibility is mixed. The current study will attempt to help clarify these mixed findings. Intoxicated, placebo, and control parti...

How common is body dissatisfaction? This article examines the epidemiology of body dissatisfaction by first reviewing meta-analyses and summaries of group differences in body dissatisfaction according to gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age cohort, and body mass index. The article then turns to large-scale magazine, Internet, university, and...