Sonja P Brubacher
Biographic Data
| ID | 4126508 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sonja P Brubacher |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sonja P |
| FAMILY NAME | Brubacher |
| SIGNATURE | BRUBACHER S P |
| AFFILIATIONS | Griffith University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2422-9913 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 23 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Interviewers’ and intermediaries’ perceptions of problematic interview questions and their proposed solutions
Witness intermediaries facilitate communication between legal actors and children or other vulnerable populations, and sometimes intermediaries assist in investigative interviews. This research explored the skills of investigative interviewers and intermediaries (who either had experience acting in that role or were eligible to do so) in identifying problematic questions during interviews. Forty-one participants (18 interviewers, 23 eligible or e…
The influence of self-assessment practices on online training for investigative interviewing skills
This paper investigates how 192 trainees’ self-assessment practices and personal attributes related to their success in an online interview training program. Performance was measured pre- and post-training by evaluating the use of open-ended questions and positive interviewing behaviors. Personal data and a pre-training survey on self-assessment practices (i.e., SEFI, seeking external feedback through inquiry; SEFM, seeking external feedback thro…
The influence of transition prompt wording on response informativeness and rapidity of disclosure in child forensic interviews
Investigators hope to elicit disclosure or other case-related (informative) responses quickly when transitioning to the substantive phase of forensic interviews. Interviewing protocols suggest directly asking the child about the purpose of the interview to obtain early disclosure. However, interviewers sometimes rephrase scripted transition prompts, which has unknown consequences. The present study examined the effects that the first transition p…
Teaching child investigative interviewing skills: Long-term retention requires cumulative training
Successful interview training includes components beyond content learning (e.g., coding question types, practicing skills in simulated interviews), but the advantages conferred by adding components are unclear. The present research evaluated best practice questioning and behavior following the addition of a series of training components delivered in a logical order. In Study 1, randomly assigned treatment (n = 34) and control (n = 41) participant…
A test of three refresher modalities on child forensic interviewers’ posttraining performance
This study aims to advance the field of child forensic interviewing by assessing the impact of different refresher training modalities on police officers’ abilities to adhere to the steps of an interview protocol and on the types of questions used. Previously trained police officers (N = 46) were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: (1) supervision with an expert, (2) peer group supervision, and (3) computer-assisted exercis…
The origin, experimental basis, and application of the standard interview method: An information‐gathering framework
ObjectivesThe standard interview method (SIM) is a guidance framework for information gathering interviews. This article describes the purpose, scope, origin, experimental basis, and practical application of the SIM. It provides an informative overview of developments to date for psychologists and researchers within the behavioural sciences, as well as for practitioners who might use the SIM. The SIM contains core evidence‐based components but is…
How children talk about events: Implications for eliciting and analyzing eyewitness reports
Trial of three investigative interview techniques with minimally verbal adults reporting about occurrences of a staged repeated event
The current study explored the effectiveness of three interview protocols on the number and specificity of details provided by minimally verbal adults about a staged repeated event. Eighty adults (with expressive sentence length of around 5 words, matched on measures of expressive language and intellectual functioning) participated in 3 live events and were pseudorandomly assigned to receive 1 of 3 interviews. The narrative-first protocol exhaust…
Children’s Competence to Testify in Australian Courts: Implementing the Royal Commission Recommendation
In 2017, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended reforms to the law of competence of child witnesses. We examined Australian judges’ practices in assessing children’s competence to give sworn evidence. Trial transcripts from 56 victims revealed that 64% were posed competence questions, with fewer to older children. The most frequent manner of posing such questions was to ask children to evaluate the mor…
Indigenous Perspectives on Operation Reset: An Initiative to Improve the Identification and Prosecution of Child Sexual Abuse Incidents in Remote Indigenous Communities
ObjectiveChild sexual abuse in remote Indigenous communities is prevalent and damaging, and finding solutions has been challenging. This study is an evaluation of Indigenous stakeholders’ experiences of an intervention aimed at addressing child sexual abuse in remote Indigenous communities in Western Australia.MethodNine interviews were analysed using a thematic analysis methodology. Interviewees included family members of children who had been s…
The attrition of indigenous and non-indigenous child sexual abuse cases in two Australian jurisdictions
Indigenous children are significantly more likely to be victims of sexual abuse than non-Indigenous children. To investigate justice outcomes for Indigenous children, we aimed in this study to compare Indigenous versus non-Indigenous cases of suspected child sexual abuse as they proceed through the criminal justice system in 2 Australian jurisdictions. In Study 1, case progression of the 2 groups was compared at the following 5 stages: Forensic d…
Professionals' Perceptions Regarding the Suitability of Investigative Interview Protocols with Aboriginal Children
ObjectiveDespite the heterogeneity of Australian Aboriginal peoples, certain styles of relating are shared and are markedly different to the communication styles of non‐Aboriginal peoples. These differences may affect the suitability of current investigative interview protocols to Australian Aboriginal children. This study aimed to qualitatively evaluate the applicability of an investigative interview protocol to Australian Aboriginal children an…
Guidelines for teachers to elicit detailed and accurate narrative accounts from children
This paper provides interview strategies for teachers who talk to children about serious events, including bullying, truancy, and suspected maltreatment. With regard to the latter, teachers are among the largest group of professionals reporting child abuse, but also tend to evince low substantiation rates. We review research on best practice interviewing, with a focus on its application in school settings. Interview phases are described chronolog…
The use of ground rules in investigative interviews with children: A synthesis and call for research
Recommendations for interviewing children about repeated experiences
For just over 2 decades, researchers have been conducting empirical studies devoted to understanding children's memory for, and ability to describe, individual occurrences of events they have experienced repeatedly. This knowledge is critical because children making allegations of repeated abuse are required to provide details particular to an individual incident in many jurisdictions internationally. Much of this work has thus far been conducted…
Induced power changes the sense of agency
Retrieval of episodic versus generic information: Does the order of recall affect the amount and accuracy of details reported by children about repeated events
Children (N = 157) 4 to 8 years old participated 1 time (single) or 4 times (repeated) in an interactive event. Across each condition, half were questioned a week later about the only or a specific occurrence of the event (depth first) and then about what usually happens. Half were prompted in the reverse order (breadth first). Children with repeated experience who first were asked about what usually happens reported more event-related informatio…
Expected Consequences of Disclosure Revealed in Investigative Interviews with Suspected Victims of Child Sexual Abuse
The current study explored the expected consequences of disclosure discussed by 204 5- to 13-year-old suspected victims of child sexual abuse during the course of investigative interviews conducted using the NICHD Investigative Interview Protocol. Expected consequences were mentioned in nearly half of all interviews, with older children and those alleging multiple incidents more likely to do so. Most consequences were mentioned spontaneously by c…
Effects of practicing episodic versus scripted recall on children's subsequent narratives of a repeated event
Children (N = 240) ages 5 to 8 years participated in 1 or 4 activity sessions involving interactive tasks (e.g., completing a puzzle); children with single-event participation served as a control group. One week after their last/only session, all children were practiced in episodic recall of unrelated experiences by asking about either the (a) a single-experience event, (b) a specific instance of a repeated event, or (c) scripted recall of a seri…
Retrieval of episodic versus generic information: Does the order of recall affect the amount and accuracy of details reported by children about repeated events
Children (N = 157) 4 to 8 years old participated 1 time (single) or 4 times (repeated) in an interactive event. Across each condition, half were questioned a week later about the only or a specific occurrence of the event (depth first) and then about what usually happens. Half were prompted in the reverse order (breadth first). Children with repeated experience who first were asked about what usually happens reported more event-related informatio…
Effects of practicing episodic versus scripted recall on children's subsequent narratives of a repeated event
Children (N = 240) ages 5 to 8 years participated in 1 or 4 activity sessions involving interactive tasks (e.g., completing a puzzle); children with single-event participation served as a control group. One week after their last/only session, all children were practiced in episodic recall of unrelated experiences by asking about either the (a) a single-experience event, (b) a specific instance of a repeated event, or (c) scripted recall of a seri…
Recommendations for interviewing children about repeated experiences
For just over 2 decades, researchers have been conducting empirical studies devoted to understanding children's memory for, and ability to describe, individual occurrences of events they have experienced repeatedly. This knowledge is critical because children making allegations of repeated abuse are required to provide details particular to an individual incident in many jurisdictions internationally. Much of this work has thus far been conducted…
Guidelines for teachers to elicit detailed and accurate narrative accounts from children
This paper provides interview strategies for teachers who talk to children about serious events, including bullying, truancy, and suspected maltreatment. With regard to the latter, teachers are among the largest group of professionals reporting child abuse, but also tend to evince low substantiation rates. We review research on best practice interviewing, with a focus on its application in school settings. Interview phases are described chronolog…
Teaching child investigative interviewing skills: Long-term retention requires cumulative training
Successful interview training includes components beyond content learning (e.g., coding question types, practicing skills in simulated interviews), but the advantages conferred by adding components are unclear. The present research evaluated best practice questioning and behavior following the addition of a series of training components delivered in a logical order. In Study 1, randomly assigned treatment (n = 34) and control (n = 41) participant…
A test of three refresher modalities on child forensic interviewers’ posttraining performance
This study aims to advance the field of child forensic interviewing by assessing the impact of different refresher training modalities on police officers’ abilities to adhere to the steps of an interview protocol and on the types of questions used. Previously trained police officers (N = 46) were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: (1) supervision with an expert, (2) peer group supervision, and (3) computer-assisted exercis…
The origin, experimental basis, and application of the standard interview method: An information‐gathering framework
ObjectivesThe standard interview method (SIM) is a guidance framework for information gathering interviews. This article describes the purpose, scope, origin, experimental basis, and practical application of the SIM. It provides an informative overview of developments to date for psychologists and researchers within the behavioural sciences, as well as for practitioners who might use the SIM. The SIM contains core evidence‐based components but is…
Trial of three investigative interview techniques with minimally verbal adults reporting about occurrences of a staged repeated event
The current study explored the effectiveness of three interview protocols on the number and specificity of details provided by minimally verbal adults about a staged repeated event. Eighty adults (with expressive sentence length of around 5 words, matched on measures of expressive language and intellectual functioning) participated in 3 live events and were pseudorandomly assigned to receive 1 of 3 interviews. The narrative-first protocol exhaust…
Professionals' Perceptions Regarding the Suitability of Investigative Interview Protocols with Aboriginal Children
ObjectiveDespite the heterogeneity of Australian Aboriginal peoples, certain styles of relating are shared and are markedly different to the communication styles of non‐Aboriginal peoples. These differences may affect the suitability of current investigative interview protocols to Australian Aboriginal children. This study aimed to qualitatively evaluate the applicability of an investigative interview protocol to Australian Aboriginal children an…
Expected Consequences of Disclosure Revealed in Investigative Interviews with Suspected Victims of Child Sexual Abuse
The current study explored the expected consequences of disclosure discussed by 204 5- to 13-year-old suspected victims of child sexual abuse during the course of investigative interviews conducted using the NICHD Investigative Interview Protocol. Expected consequences were mentioned in nearly half of all interviews, with older children and those alleging multiple incidents more likely to do so. Most consequences were mentioned spontaneously by c…
Effects of practicing episodic versus scripted recall on children's subsequent narratives of a repeated event
Children (N = 240) ages 5 to 8 years participated in 1 or 4 activity sessions involving interactive tasks (e.g., completing a puzzle); children with single-event participation served as a control group. One week after their last/only session, all children were practiced in episodic recall of unrelated experiences by asking about either the (a) a single-experience event, (b) a specific instance of a repeated event, or (c) scripted recall of a seri…
Induced power changes the sense of agency
Retrieval of episodic versus generic information: Does the order of recall affect the amount and accuracy of details reported by children about repeated events
Children (N = 157) 4 to 8 years old participated 1 time (single) or 4 times (repeated) in an interactive event. Across each condition, half were questioned a week later about the only or a specific occurrence of the event (depth first) and then about what usually happens. Half were prompted in the reverse order (breadth first). Children with repeated experience who first were asked about what usually happens reported more event-related informatio…
Recommendations for interviewing children about repeated experiences
For just over 2 decades, researchers have been conducting empirical studies devoted to understanding children's memory for, and ability to describe, individual occurrences of events they have experienced repeatedly. This knowledge is critical because children making allegations of repeated abuse are required to provide details particular to an individual incident in many jurisdictions internationally. Much of this work has thus far been conducted…
The use of ground rules in investigative interviews with children: A synthesis and call for research
Professionals' Perceptions Regarding the Suitability of Investigative Interview Protocols with Aboriginal Children
ObjectiveDespite the heterogeneity of Australian Aboriginal peoples, certain styles of relating are shared and are markedly different to the communication styles of non‐Aboriginal peoples. These differences may affect the suitability of current investigative interview protocols to Australian Aboriginal children. This study aimed to qualitatively evaluate the applicability of an investigative interview protocol to Australian Aboriginal children an…
Guidelines for teachers to elicit detailed and accurate narrative accounts from children
This paper provides interview strategies for teachers who talk to children about serious events, including bullying, truancy, and suspected maltreatment. With regard to the latter, teachers are among the largest group of professionals reporting child abuse, but also tend to evince low substantiation rates. We review research on best practice interviewing, with a focus on its application in school settings. Interview phases are described chronolog…
The attrition of indigenous and non-indigenous child sexual abuse cases in two Australian jurisdictions
Indigenous children are significantly more likely to be victims of sexual abuse than non-Indigenous children. To investigate justice outcomes for Indigenous children, we aimed in this study to compare Indigenous versus non-Indigenous cases of suspected child sexual abuse as they proceed through the criminal justice system in 2 Australian jurisdictions. In Study 1, case progression of the 2 groups was compared at the following 5 stages: Forensic d…
Indigenous Perspectives on Operation Reset: An Initiative to Improve the Identification and Prosecution of Child Sexual Abuse Incidents in Remote Indigenous Communities
ObjectiveChild sexual abuse in remote Indigenous communities is prevalent and damaging, and finding solutions has been challenging. This study is an evaluation of Indigenous stakeholders’ experiences of an intervention aimed at addressing child sexual abuse in remote Indigenous communities in Western Australia.MethodNine interviews were analysed using a thematic analysis methodology. Interviewees included family members of children who had been s…
How children talk about events: Implications for eliciting and analyzing eyewitness reports
Trial of three investigative interview techniques with minimally verbal adults reporting about occurrences of a staged repeated event
The current study explored the effectiveness of three interview protocols on the number and specificity of details provided by minimally verbal adults about a staged repeated event. Eighty adults (with expressive sentence length of around 5 words, matched on measures of expressive language and intellectual functioning) participated in 3 live events and were pseudorandomly assigned to receive 1 of 3 interviews. The narrative-first protocol exhaust…
Children’s Competence to Testify in Australian Courts: Implementing the Royal Commission Recommendation
In 2017, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended reforms to the law of competence of child witnesses. We examined Australian judges’ practices in assessing children’s competence to give sworn evidence. Trial transcripts from 56 victims revealed that 64% were posed competence questions, with fewer to older children. The most frequent manner of posing such questions was to ask children to evaluate the mor…
The origin, experimental basis, and application of the standard interview method: An information‐gathering framework
ObjectivesThe standard interview method (SIM) is a guidance framework for information gathering interviews. This article describes the purpose, scope, origin, experimental basis, and practical application of the SIM. It provides an informative overview of developments to date for psychologists and researchers within the behavioural sciences, as well as for practitioners who might use the SIM. The SIM contains core evidence‐based components but is…
A test of three refresher modalities on child forensic interviewers’ posttraining performance
This study aims to advance the field of child forensic interviewing by assessing the impact of different refresher training modalities on police officers’ abilities to adhere to the steps of an interview protocol and on the types of questions used. Previously trained police officers (N = 46) were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: (1) supervision with an expert, (2) peer group supervision, and (3) computer-assisted exercis…
The influence of transition prompt wording on response informativeness and rapidity of disclosure in child forensic interviews
Investigators hope to elicit disclosure or other case-related (informative) responses quickly when transitioning to the substantive phase of forensic interviews. Interviewing protocols suggest directly asking the child about the purpose of the interview to obtain early disclosure. However, interviewers sometimes rephrase scripted transition prompts, which has unknown consequences. The present study examined the effects that the first transition p…
Teaching child investigative interviewing skills: Long-term retention requires cumulative training
Successful interview training includes components beyond content learning (e.g., coding question types, practicing skills in simulated interviews), but the advantages conferred by adding components are unclear. The present research evaluated best practice questioning and behavior following the addition of a series of training components delivered in a logical order. In Study 1, randomly assigned treatment (n = 34) and control (n = 41) participant…
The influence of self-assessment practices on online training for investigative interviewing skills
This paper investigates how 192 trainees’ self-assessment practices and personal attributes related to their success in an online interview training program. Performance was measured pre- and post-training by evaluating the use of open-ended questions and positive interviewing behaviors. Personal data and a pre-training survey on self-assessment practices (i.e., SEFI, seeking external feedback through inquiry; SEFM, seeking external feedback thro…
Interviewers’ and intermediaries’ perceptions of problematic interview questions and their proposed solutions
Witness intermediaries facilitate communication between legal actors and children or other vulnerable populations, and sometimes intermediaries assist in investigative interviews. This research explored the skills of investigative interviewers and intermediaries (who either had experience acting in that role or were eligible to do so) in identifying problematic questions during interviews. Forty-one participants (18 interviewers, 23 eligible or e…
Psychology (19 works) · Memory Processes and Influences (12 works) · Medicine (10 works) · Developmental psychology (9 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Deception detection and forensic psychology (8 works) · Interview (7 works) · Applied Psychology (6 works) · Social Psychology (6 works) · Cognitive psychology (5 works)