Disclosing Evidence in Investigative Interviews: What Can the Research Tell Us and What Does it Mean for Training?

Research shows that attempting to pressure and overwhelm interviewees to align with evidence by, for example, disclosing too much evidence at the earlier stages of an interview often results in unreliable statements and can facilitate opportunities for deceptive interviewees to deceive convincingly.
By encouraging interviewees to address the available evidence before disclosing it (late timing of disclosure) or drip-feeding the evidence throughout an interview (gradual method of disclosure), it becomes easier to elicit and explore statements that contradict available evidence; and these disclosure methods may encourage interviewees to reveal information that facilitate more accurate credibility assessments.
Due to the uncertainty and unpredictability of operational interviews compared to laboratory studies, training on evidence disclosure should focus on appropriate adaptive use rather than pure implementation of theoretical frameworks and protocols.