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Improving the Comprehensibility of a Canadian Police Caution on the Right to Silence

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Abstract

Modifications to a Canadian police caution on the right to silence were made in an attempt to increase its comprehensibility. University participants were asked to imagine themselves in an arrest and interrogation situation in which they were either innocent or guilty. It was hypothesized that participants who received the modified caution would score significantly higher on measures of comprehension than those who received the standard caution. Results indicated that comprehension was significantly higher among those that received the modified caution and that those with higher comprehension scores were more likely to exercise their right to silence. These findings suggest that clarifying and standardizing how a detainee’s rights are communicated will lead to better comprehension and greater protection against false or coerced confessions.

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Notes

  1. There is also the long-standing acceptance in common law that convicting the innocent is a more grievous harm than acquitting the guilty (Blackstone 2009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Canada

    Krista Davis & C. Lindsay Fitzsimmons

  2. Department of Psychology, Glendon College at York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Timothy E. Moore

Authors
  1. Krista Davis
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  2. C. Lindsay Fitzsimmons
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  3. Timothy E. Moore
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Timothy E. Moore.

Additional information

This research was supported in part by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship Program. We thank the following people for helpful commentary on previous drafts: Paul Burstein, Alan Gold, Regina Schuller, Trudi Strasberg.

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Davis, K., Fitzsimmons, C.L. & Moore, T.E. Improving the Comprehensibility of a Canadian Police Caution on the Right to Silence. J Police Crim Psych 26, 87–99 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-011-9086-y

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