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Gudjonsson suggestibility scale

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The Gudjonsson suggestibility scale (GSS) is a test that tries to measure how susceptible a person is to coercive interrogation.

History

It was created by Gísli Hannes Guðjónsson. It relies on two different aspects of interrogative suggestibility: It measures how much an interrogated person yields to leading questions. It also measures how much an interrogated person shifts their responses when additional interrogative pressure is applied.

The test consists of a short narrative read to the person under interrogation. The person then recounts all they can from the story. Later, the person under interrogation is asked a standard array of questions about the story, some of which are false. The person under interrogation is told in a "forceful manner" that there are errors in their story and must answer the questions a second time.

Yielding refers to susceptibility to suggestive questioning. Shifting refers to changing answers as a result of interrogative pressure.

References

Gudjonsson suggestibility scale Wikipedia