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Obtaining accurate and reliable information from witnesses and victims of crime is essential for guiding criminal investigations and for the successful prosecution of offenders and beyond. Here, the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of prosocial rapport behaviours and retrieval environment on mock eyewitness memory with an emphasis on the qualitative nature of information recalled in terms of persons, actions, objects and surroundings.

One hundred participants from the general population took part in mock witness research using a 2 (Environment: face-to-face; virtual) × 2 (Rapport: present; absent) design. Participants individually viewed an event depicting a fight in a bar and were then interviewed 48 h later according to condition.

Rapport and environment variously emerged as impactful, resulting in significant improvements in correct recall of persons, actions and object information when rapport was present and in virtual environments (VEs) when communicating via avatars. In many instances, the benefits of rapport and environment were additive, but not always. Surroundings information remained consistent across all conditions. Erroneous recall was extremely susceptible to inflation in face-to-face interviews when rapport was absent, in some instances increasing by over 100%. However, virtual interview spaces appeared to dilute the negative effects on retrieval when rapport was absent.

This study concurs with others who have argued that comfortable witnesses are “better” witnesses; however, understanding what “comfort” looks and feels like remains a challenge.

The results, alongside the findings of others, have implications for applied and social cognition and reveal avenues for future research centred on widening access to justice and professional interview training.

This study reveals that prosocial rapport behaviours and VEs significantly enhance the accuracy of eyewitness recall. The findings suggest that virtual interviews can mitigate errors in the absence of rapport, offering valuable insights for criminal investigators and legal professionals. This research is crucial for improving witness interviewing techniques, thereby aiding in the accurate prosecution of offenders and broadening access to justice. The paper is valuable for criminal investigators, legal professionals, forensic psychologists and researchers focused on improving the reliability of eyewitness testimonies and interview methodologies.

The purpose of this study is to compare violent and non-violent extremists in terms of their age when they first perpetrate an extremist act, and to understand how this relates to other factors underlying extremist behaviours. While the end goal of many extremists may be functionally similar, the pathways into extremism vary, and the literature has demonstrated that a “one-size-fits-all” explanation does not exist. Motivational drivers are complex and dynamic; therefore, attempting to identify a terrorist “profile” has limited applied efficacy.

This study applied a temporal approach (“crime script analysis” or CSA) to identify, map and compare the sequential stages (or “scenes”) in the life histories of violent and non-violent extremists who have committed acts of extremism across different age groups. Crime scripts comprising mainly qualitative data for 40 male extremists (20 violent, 20 non-violent “cases”) were developed, and CSA was conducted according to the age at which they committed their first extremist offence.

Results demonstrated key temporal, developmental differences between the pathways of extremists who commit their first offence at different ages. One key difference was that for both the violent and non-violent extremists, those under 30 used the internet as a main means of joining networks and spreading information, whereas the over 30s made more personal, community links.

This research can aid identification of potential environmental triggers and potential increased susceptibility to triggers across certain age groups.