Table 2. MASAM scores as function of veracity—law students.
| MASAM content criteria | Level of analysis | True (n = 189) | False (n = 183) | F | Cohen's d | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M | SD | M | SD | ||||
| Internal coherency | objects/events | 4.78 | 1.78 | 4.40 | 1.82 | 7.21** | .21 |
| suspect | 5.24 | 1.41 | 4.74 | 1.65 | 19.09** | .33 | |
| interview | 5.23 | 1.48 | 4.95 | 1.53 | 5.92* | .19 | |
| Coherence with other statements | objects/events | 5.61 | 1.18 | 5.31 | 1.46 | 9.77** | .23 |
| suspect | 5.66 | 1.10 | 5.36 | 1.38 | 11.63** | .25 | |
| interview | 5.68 | 1.08 | 5.43 | 1.30 | 8.59** | .22 | |
| Coherence with other evidence | objects/events | 5.54 | 1.23 | 4.80 | 1.84 | 41.97** | .48 |
| suspect | 5.57 | 1.18 | 4.91 | 1.74 | 37.85** | .46 | |
| interview | 5.60 | 1.12 | 5.02 | 1.69 | 32.15** | .42 | |
| Volume of statement | objects/events | 4.54 | 1.69 | 3.90 | 1.61 | 22.05** | .38 |
| suspect | 5.05 | 1.40 | 4.41 | 1.55 | 29.49** | .43 | |
| interview | 5.41 | 1.19 | 4.84 | 1.47 | 29.01** | .43 | |
| Description language | objects/events | 5.26 | 1.15 | 4.86 | 1.43 | 16.07** | .32 |
| suspect | 5.28 | 1.21 | 4.89 | 1.47 | 13.35** | .29 | |
| interview | 5.67 | 0.81 | 5.36 | 1.24 | 13.67** | .30 | |
| Structure of statement | objects/events | 5.17 | 1.34 | 4.84 | 1.49 | 8.88** | .24 |
| suspect | 5.44 | 1.04 | 5.17 | 1.27 | 8.49** | .24 | |
| interview | 5.69 | 2.41 | 5.32 | 1.30 | 4.44* | .18 | |
| Statement linguistic function | objects/events | 5.19 | 1.36 | 4.72 | 1.49 | 17.09** | .33 |
| suspect | 5.39 | 1.11 | 4.86 | 1.43 | 29.58** | .42 | |
| interview | 5.48 | 1.18 | 5.16 | 1.35 | 9.53** | .26 | |
| Character and types of details | objects/events | 4.35 | 1.79 | 3.90 | 1.76 | 9.25** | .25 |
| suspect | 4.94 | 1.47 | 4.29 | 1.65 | 26.62** | .41 | |
| interview | 5.19 | 1.42 | 4.82 | 1.52 | 8.56** | .25 | |
| Interactions | objects/events | 4.19 | 1.85 | 3.59 | 1.74 | 17.25** | .32 |
| suspect | 4.83 | 1.54 | 4.18 | 1.66 | 26.23** | .41 | |
| interview | 5.28 | 1.31 | 4.94 | 1.46 | 8.44** | .24 | |
| Consequences | objects/events | 4.22 | 1.83 | 3.88 | 1.74 | 4.56* | .19 |
| suspect | 4.66 | 1.65 | 4.24 | 1.65 | 8.67* | .25 | |
| interview | 5.29 | 1.27 | 4.99 | 1.45 | 6.47* | 22 | |
| Contextual setting and external associations | objects/events | 4.47 | 1.75 | 3.85 | 1.67 | 21.25** | .36 |
| suspect | 4.91 | 1.51 | 4.30 | 1.52 | 25.75** | .40 | |
| interview | 5.26 | 1.35 | 4.89 | 1.39 | 12.29** | .27 | |
| Sensory data | objects/events | 4.62 | 1.68 | 4.04 | 1.80 | 19.24** | .33 |
| suspect | 4.96 | 1.48 | 4.31 | 1.73 | 26.79** | .40 | |
| interview | 5.39 | 1.22 | 4.97 | 1.54 | 15.21** | .30 | |
| Source of statement | objects/events | 4.89 | 1.64 | 4.44 | 1.80 | 12.68** | .26 |
| suspect | 5.23 | 1.36 | 4.73 | 1.61 | 20.32** | .33 | |
| interview | 5.54 | 3.05 | 5.20 | 1.39 | 2.73 | .13 | |
| Description of internal states (emotions and/or thoughts) | objects/events | 4.07 | 1.78 | 3.41 | 1.71 | 21.97** | .37 |
| suspect | 4.55 | 1.67 | 3.81 | 1.74 | 31.55** | .43 | |
| interview | 5.22 | 1.33 | 4.91 | 1.49 | 7.54** | .22 | |
| Descriptions of relations | objects/events | 4.73 | 1.60 | 3.96 | 1.74 | 34.92** | .46 |
| suspect | 5.12 | 1.33 | 4.46 | 1.57 | 34.13** | .45 | |
| interview | 5.38 | 1.20 | 4.96 | 1.46 | 15.92** | .32 | |
| Readiness to depose | objects/events | 4.98 | 1.51 | 4.11 | 1.74 | 47.24** | .53 |
| suspect | 5.33 | 1.19 | 4.41 | 1.67 | 69.69** | .63 | |
| interview | 5.45 | 1.09 | 4.83 | 1.52 | 37.61** | .48 | |
| Readiness to search, identify, and reproduce memory traces | objects/events | 4.82 | 1.56 | 3.89 | 1.79 | 54.08** | .55 |
| suspect | 5.16 | 1.32 | 4.31 | 1.68 | 57.80** | .56 | |
| interview | 5.45 | 1.14 | 4.98 | 4.13 | 4.64* | .18 | |
| Level of confidence—internal doubts about memories | objects/events | 4.88 | 1.53 | 4.42 | 1.59 | 14.96** | .29 |
| suspect | 5.22 | 1.28 | 4.74 | 1.45 | 22.48** | .35 | |
| interview | 5.45 | 1.10 | 5.00 | 1.36 | 23.01** | .37 | |
| Complement | objects/events | 4.88 | 1.60 | 4.33 | 1.78 | 17.41** | .33 |
| suspect | 5.21 | 1.32 | 4.56 | 1.68 | 31.19** | .44 | |
| interview | 5.49 | 1.07 | 4.88 | 1.60 | 33.34** | .46 | |
| Memory loses | objects/events | 4.78 | 1.66 | 4.38 | 1.71 | 10.59** | .24 |
| suspect | 5.25 | 1.28 | 5.00 | 4.05 | 22.17** | .09 | |
| interview | 5.33 | 1.29 | 5.10 | 2.26 | 3.07 | .13 | |
| Search for acceptance | objects/events | 4.68 | 1.82 | 4.44 | 1.73 | 3.44 | .14 |
| suspect | 4.97 | 1.63 | 4.65 | 1.68 | 6.75** | .19 | |
| interview | 5.26 | 1.41 | 5.16 | 1.35 | 0.86 | .07 | |
Note
* p < .05
** p < .01.