Effective interview training of Child Protective Services (CPS) and police investigators needs to be standardized and with clear objectives, but also flexible and applicable to the diverse populations of youth who are exposed to crime. In this presentation, Professor Gunn Astrid Baugerud, a Visiting Fulbright Fellow from OsloMet University, will discuss cutting edge research that she and her colleagues are pursuing, designed to bridge the gap between best practice and the real world via an interactive avatar training system for investigative interviewers. The system is based on artificial intelligence (AI) methods that utilizes well-designed mock interviews and real-life investigative interviews to model interaction dynamics. The use of avatars in trainings will enable investigators to develop and maintain the advanced skills needed for interviewing maltreated children. Indeed, pairing avatars with feedback to trainees may be the future of interviewer training as these types of simulation tools allow interviewers to train when they have time available and can provide booster sessions with the avatars between one interview and the other in the field to sustain effective practices.
Professor Baugerud will be joined by Jodi Quas, professor of psychological science, and together they will discuss possible extensions of the avatar training model when considering training interviewers to question overlooked populations of suspected youth victims, but also broader extensions to other populations of professionals who question youth about their experiences, needs, and well being in order to provide services, support and intervention.
This event is sponsored by the Center for Psychology and Law.
