The purpose of this article is to (a) describe the construction of a role-play test (RPT), which is based on actual negotiated encounters by the Crisis Negotiation Unit of the FBI and employed specifically for evaluation and training of negotiation skills, and (b) provide preliminary validational support for the RPT. The first part of the study includes an overview of RPT item development and the role of active-listening skills, and the second part involves the validation of the RPT. Both groups were also administered self-report measures of social problem-solving skills and emotional empathy. Results indicate that in comparison to experts, nonexpert negotiators show deficiencies across active-listening skill categories. Relationships between use of active listening and emotional empathy are observed.
Bellack, A. S. (1983). Recurrent problems in the behavioral assessment of social skill. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 21, 29-41.
2.
Bellack, A. S., & Hersen, M. (Eds.). (1998). Behavioral assessment: A practical handbook. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
3.
Bolton, R. (1984). People skills. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
4.
Cairns, R. B. (Ed.). (1979). The analysis of social interactions: Methods, issues, and illustrations. Hillside, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
5.
Call, J. A. (1996). The hostage triad: Takers, victims, and negotiators. Unpublished manuscript.
6.
Ciminero, A. R., Calhoun, K. S., & Adams, H. E. (Eds.). (1986). Handbook of behavioral assessment. New York: Wiley-Interscience.
7.
Dolan, J. T., & Fuselier, G. D. (1989). A guide for first responders to hostage situations. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 58, 14-21.
8.
D’Zurilla, T. J., & Maydeu-Olivares, A. (1994). The Social Problem Solving Inventory-Revised. Unpublished manuscript.
9.
D’Zurilla, T. J., & Nezu, A. M. (1990). Development and preliminary evaluation of the social inventory. Psychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2, 156-163.
10.
Feldman, T. B., & Johnson, P. W. (1999). Aircraft hijacking in the United States. In H. V. Hall (Ed.), Lethal violence: A sourcebook on fatal domestic, acquaintance, and stranger violence (pp. 403-440). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
11.
Fuselier, G. D. (1981). A practical overview of hostage negotiations. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 50, 5-12.
12.
Greenstone, J. L. (1994). Crisis intervention skills training for police negotiators in the 21st century. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 10, 57-60.
13.
Greenstone, J. L. (1995). Hostage negotiations team training for small police departments. In M. I. Kurke & E. M. Scrivner (Eds.), Police psychology into the 21st century (pp. 279-296). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
14.
Hatcher, C., Mohandie, K., Turner, J., & Gelles, M. G. (1998). The role of the psychologist in crisis/hostage negotiations. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 16, 455-472.
15.
Lambert, M. J. (Ed.). (1983). A guide to psychotherapy and patient relationships. Howewood, IL: Dow Jones-Irwin.
16.
Lanceley, F. J. (1999). On-scene guide for crisis negotiators. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
17.
McMains, M. J., & Mullins, W. C. (1996). Crisis negotiations: Managing critical incidents and hostage situations in law enforcement and corrections. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.
18.
McMains, M. J., & Mullins, W. C. (2001). Crisis negotiations: Managing critical incidents and hostage situations in law enforcement and corrections (2nd ed.). Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.
19.
Mehrabian, A. (1996). Manual for the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale(BEES). Unpublished manuscript.
20.
Mehrabian, A. (1997). Relations among personality scales of aggression, violence, and empathy: Validational evidence bearing on the risk of eruptive violence scale. Aggressive Behavior, 23, 433-445.
21.
Mehrabian, A., & Epstein, N. (1972). A manual of emotional empathy. Journal of Personality, 40, 525-543.
22.
Mehrabian, A., Young, A., & Sato, S. (1988). Emotional empathy and associated individual differences. Current Psychology: Research & Reviews, 7, 221-240.
23.
Noesner, G. W., & Dolan, J. T. (1992). First responder negotiation training. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 61, 101-104.
24.
Noesner, G. W., & Romano, S. J. (2002). A role play test of crisis (hostage) negotiation skill. Unpublished manuscript.
25.
Noesner, G. W., & Webster, M. (1997). Crisis negotiations as crisis intervention. In S. J. Romano & M. F. McCann (Eds.), Crisis negotiations: A compendium (pp. 3-19). Quantico, VA: Crisis Negotiation Unit, Critical Incident Response Group, FBI Academy.
26.
Rogan, R. G., Hammer, M. R., & Van Zandt, C. R. (1997). Dynamic processes of crisis negotiation: Theory, research, and practice. Westport, CT: Praeger.
27.
Romano, S. J. (1998). Third-party intermediaries and crisis negotiations. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 67, 20-24.
28.
Sharp, A. G. (2000). The importance of role-playing in training. Law and Order: The Magazine for Police Management, 48, 97-100.
29.
Vakili, S., Gonzalez, S., Allen, S. W., & Westwell, C. (2002). Measuring personality variables associated with successful hostage negotiators. Unpublished manuscript.
30.
Webster, M. (2003). Active listening and beyond: Compliance strategies in crisis negotiation. Denman Island, British Columbia, Canada: Centurion Consulting Services.
31.
Weinfurt, K. P. (2000). Q-technique factor analysis: One variation on the two-mode factor analysis of variables. In L. G. Grimm & P. R. Yarnold (Eds.), In reading and understanding more multivariate statistics (pp. 126-153). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
