Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey.
Behav Sci Law. 2013 Sep-Oct;31(5):559-73. doi: 10.1002/bsl.2077. Epub 2013 Jul 23.
In two pilot studies, we investigate the possibility that patterns in our linguistic environment affect the likelihood of accepting misinformation. Turkish, which marks its verbs for the source of a speaker's evidence (first-hand perception vs. hearsay), was contrasted with English which does not mark its verbs but which, to signal strength of evidence, must employ optional lexical marking. In the first pilot study, Turkish adults were shown to be affected by that language's obligatory evidential markings: their free recall for details of the events changed as a function of the type of the tense-aspect marker in use, and strong evidential markers led to increased levels of suggestibility when employed with misleading questions. In the second pilot study, Turkish- and English-speaking children were shown to be differentially suggestible depending on combinations of evidential markers in the story presented and the evidential marker employed in the misinformation subsequently provided. Together, these two pilot studies show promise in this area of research, which has been ignored by the forensic community and yet would seem to be relevant when interviewing, taking statements, and giving testimony in cross-linguistic settings.
在两项试点研究中，我们探讨了语言环境中的模式是否会影响人们接受错误信息的可能性。土耳其语会标记动词以表示说话者证据的来源（第一手感知与道听途说），而英语则不会标记动词，但为了表明证据的强度，必须使用可选的词汇标记。在第一项试点研究中，我们发现土耳其成年人受到语言强制性证据标记的影响：他们对事件细节的自由回忆会随着使用的时态-体标记类型而变化，并且当使用带有误导性问题的强证据标记时，会导致更高的暗示度。在第二项试点研究中，我们发现土耳其语和英语儿童的暗示度会根据所呈现故事中的证据标记组合以及随后提供的错误信息中使用的证据标记而有所不同。这两项试点研究都表明，在这个被法医界忽视的研究领域具有一定的前景，因为在跨语言环境中进行访谈、记录陈述和提供证言时，这似乎是相关的。
