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Review
. 2024 Feb 19:15:1352091.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1352091. eCollection 2024.

Proposing immersive virtual reality scenarios for validating verbal content analysis methods in adult samples

Judith A Iffland  1 , Theres Volz  1 , Silvia Gubi-Kelm  1
Affiliations
Review

Proposing immersive virtual reality scenarios for validating verbal content analysis methods in adult samples

Judith A Iffland et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Verbal content analyses to differentiate truthful and fabricated statements, such as the Criteria-Based Content Analysis (CBCA), are used in lie detection research as well as in practice to assess the credibility of statements in criminal court proceedings. Meta-analyses demonstrate validity of verbal content analyses above chance, but the traditional research paradigms usually lack either ecological or internal validity. The authors discuss the usage of immersive virtual reality scenarios to solve this dilemma, as both types of validity can be increased by this approach. In this integrative review of existing literature on the current use of virtual scenarios in forensic and victimology research, the authors extract strengths and limitations for possible VR studies in the context of verbal content analysis. Furthermore, novel ethical challenges involved are summarized and implications for future studies proposed. Overall, we argue in favor of using virtual reality scenarios to validate methods for verbal content analysis, but also urge to consider ethical limitations regarding unwanted short- and long-term aftereffects.

Keywords: Criteria-Based Content Analysis; lie detection; memory; statement credibility; validity; verbal content analysis; virtual reality.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Proposal of study hypotheses.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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