Eliciting clinically relevant information : the effect of interview and beliefs

Gwyer, Pat (2007) Eliciting clinically relevant information : the effect of interview and beliefs. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

Collecting good quality information is an essential part of clinical interviewing. With this in mind this thesis aimed to explore some of the methods by which information can be collected from third-parties concerning incidents of challenging behaviour. Following on from this, by drawing upon theoretical principles of memory (i.e. schema theory) the thesis also considered how interviewee beliefs about challenging behaviour could influence the quality of information elicited. Then by drawing upon evidence from the psycho-legal domain (i.e. the Cognitive Interview) the possibility that the quality of information elicited from clinical interviews could be enhanced through the modification of current clinical interview methods was considered. Building upon some of the issues raised within the review section of this thesis, the empirical paper sought to explore the effects of such modifications and of interviewee beliefs about behaviour, upon the quality of information elicited from a clinical interview. Results indicated that the modification of current clinical methods was responsible for an enhancement in the quality of information elicited. However, in contrast to expectations, beliefs about behaviour were not found to influence the quality of recollections.

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