ABSTRACT Motivational and cognitive aspects of children's reports of an event to which th... more ABSTRACT Motivational and cognitive aspects of children's reports of an event to which they were the only "witness" and the prime "suspect" were examined. Subjects were 67 children of 3 to 10 years of age. After a test and play session to assess the children's receptive vocabulary and their understanding of the term "believe," each child was asked to perform a task with a collection of figures constructed from play dough. During a brief period in which the child was left alone, a man entered, broke one of the figures (a snake), and left hurriedly, and left behind some books he had brought with him. In semistructured interviews, questions such as "What happened to the snake?" and "What did you do?" were asked of each child. Other questions assessed the child's perceptions of his or her believability, understanding of the utility of corroborating evidence, and knowledge of legal concepts. The majority of the children accurately reported the way in which the figure was broken. Children's expectations that they would be believed by unfamiliar adults decreased with age. Older children were more likely than younger children to corroborate their stories by describing the man and mentioning his books. Children younger than age 7 had little familiarity with, or understanding of, legal concepts. Adults' perceptions of the credibility of child witnesses, developmental influences on children's perceptions of their credibility, and implications for children's court testimony are discussed. (AC)
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1207 S1532480xads0301_6, Jun 4, 2010
ABSTRACT Concern about the accuracy of children's responses to "yes-no"... more ABSTRACT Concern about the accuracy of children's responses to "yes-no" questions has created controversy regarding the appropriateness of these questions for forensic interviews. To evaluate response patterns, 56 children (3-7 years old) were twice asked a set of yes-no questions, either in standard or in a modified, forced-choice format, about a videotaped event. Younger children were less accurate and consistent than were older children. Unlike the older children, the younger children were less accurate on questions that adults rated as probing central information compared to those involving more peripheral details. Question format did not alter children's accuracy, their tendency to answer "I don't know," or their consistency across repeated questions. No clear response biases were observed for the majority of children regardless of question format, and accuracy was equivalent on "yes-correct" and "no-correct" questions. Consistency and answers to suggestibility check questions were notpredictive of performance. Because multiple mechanisms underlie errors on yes-no questions, the goal of postdicting the accuracy of children's responses remains elusive.
Motivational and cognitive aspects of children's reports of an event to which they were the o... more Motivational and cognitive aspects of children's reports of an event to which they were the only "witness" and the prime "suspect" were examined. Subjects were 67 children of 3 to 10 years of age. After a test and play session to assess the children's receptive vocabulary and their understanding of the term "believe," each child was asked to perform a task with a collection of figures constructed from play dough. During a brief period in which the child was left alone, a man entered, broke one of the figures (a snake), and left hurriedly, and left behind some books he had brought with him. In semistructured interviews, questions such as "What happened to the snake?" and "What did you do?" were asked of each child. Other questions assessed the child's perceptions of his or her believability, understanding of the utility of corroborating evidence, and knowledge of legal concepts. The majority of the children accurately repo...
The present study evaluates the knowledge of jury-eligible college students (n = 192), investigat... more The present study evaluates the knowledge of jury-eligible college students (n = 192), investigative interviewers (n = 44), forensic psychologists (n = 39), and public defenders (n = 137) in regard to the research on interviewing children. These groups' knowledge was compared with the scientific research on the impact of interview techniques and practices on the accuracy of child witnesses. Jury-eligible students were the least knowledgeable, but their accuracy varied widely across items. Both interviewers and public defenders performed better than jury-eligible students, but they lacked substantial knowledge about the research on interviewing children on certain topics (e.g., using anatomically detailed dolls); forensic psychologists were the most knowledgeable. These findings suggest that professionals in the legal system need substantial professional development regarding the research on interviewing strategies with child witnesses. They also highlight the need for experts to provide case-relevant information to juries who lack basic information about the validity and reliability of children's reports.
ABSTRACT Allowing hearsay testimony in child abuse cases represents a dramatic and controversial ... more ABSTRACT Allowing hearsay testimony in child abuse cases represents a dramatic and controversial change to the legal system, yet little scholarly and empirical work has been devoted to the topic. This special theme issue contains 12 articles written by psycholegal scholars from the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. It is organized to address 3 basic issues that should be of interest to psycholegal. researchers, as well as police officers, judges, lawyers, and other members of the legal community. (a) How often is hearsay testimony used? How is it used in comparison to other innovations designed to protect the psychological welfare of the child witness? (b) How accurate is hearsay testimony? Is it as accurate as the child's own account? (c) Do jurors believe hearsay testimony? How much weight do or should jurors give to hearsay testimony? Two critical commentaries, one legal and one psychological, follow these articles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
... Amye R. Warren, Psychology Department, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Cara E. Woodal... more ... Amye R. Warren, Psychology Department, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Cara E. Woodall, Psychology Department, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. ... The participants represented nine different states. Various levels of education were represented. ...
Children from 5 to 12 years of age (N = 779) were shown a videotape where a preschool teacher has... more Children from 5 to 12 years of age (N = 779) were shown a videotape where a preschool teacher has money stolen from her wallet. Children were shown a lineup, and for children in the bystander condition, the lineup contained a familiar bystander without the thief. Children in the control condition viewed the same lineup but they had not seen the bystander in the videotape. Among the 11-12-year olds, participants in the bystander condition were significantly more likely than control participants to misidentify the familiar bystander. This effect was not found in children from 5 to 10 years of age. When children in the control condition were shown a lineup that contained the thief without the bystander, the 11-12-year olds were significantly more likely than the younger children to correctly identify the thief. These findings demonstrate that age can both increase and decrease the accuracy of children's lineup identification accuracy depending on the task at hand and the content of a lineup.
ABSTRACT Motivational and cognitive aspects of children's reports of an event to which th... more ABSTRACT Motivational and cognitive aspects of children's reports of an event to which they were the only "witness" and the prime "suspect" were examined. Subjects were 67 children of 3 to 10 years of age. After a test and play session to assess the children's receptive vocabulary and their understanding of the term "believe," each child was asked to perform a task with a collection of figures constructed from play dough. During a brief period in which the child was left alone, a man entered, broke one of the figures (a snake), and left hurriedly, and left behind some books he had brought with him. In semistructured interviews, questions such as "What happened to the snake?" and "What did you do?" were asked of each child. Other questions assessed the child's perceptions of his or her believability, understanding of the utility of corroborating evidence, and knowledge of legal concepts. The majority of the children accurately reported the way in which the figure was broken. Children's expectations that they would be believed by unfamiliar adults decreased with age. Older children were more likely than younger children to corroborate their stories by describing the man and mentioning his books. Children younger than age 7 had little familiarity with, or understanding of, legal concepts. Adults' perceptions of the credibility of child witnesses, developmental influences on children's perceptions of their credibility, and implications for children's court testimony are discussed. (AC)
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1207 S1532480xads0301_6, Jun 4, 2010
ABSTRACT Concern about the accuracy of children's responses to "yes-no"... more ABSTRACT Concern about the accuracy of children's responses to "yes-no" questions has created controversy regarding the appropriateness of these questions for forensic interviews. To evaluate response patterns, 56 children (3-7 years old) were twice asked a set of yes-no questions, either in standard or in a modified, forced-choice format, about a videotaped event. Younger children were less accurate and consistent than were older children. Unlike the older children, the younger children were less accurate on questions that adults rated as probing central information compared to those involving more peripheral details. Question format did not alter children's accuracy, their tendency to answer "I don't know," or their consistency across repeated questions. No clear response biases were observed for the majority of children regardless of question format, and accuracy was equivalent on "yes-correct" and "no-correct" questions. Consistency and answers to suggestibility check questions were notpredictive of performance. Because multiple mechanisms underlie errors on yes-no questions, the goal of postdicting the accuracy of children's responses remains elusive.
Motivational and cognitive aspects of children's reports of an event to which they were the o... more Motivational and cognitive aspects of children's reports of an event to which they were the only "witness" and the prime "suspect" were examined. Subjects were 67 children of 3 to 10 years of age. After a test and play session to assess the children's receptive vocabulary and their understanding of the term "believe," each child was asked to perform a task with a collection of figures constructed from play dough. During a brief period in which the child was left alone, a man entered, broke one of the figures (a snake), and left hurriedly, and left behind some books he had brought with him. In semistructured interviews, questions such as "What happened to the snake?" and "What did you do?" were asked of each child. Other questions assessed the child's perceptions of his or her believability, understanding of the utility of corroborating evidence, and knowledge of legal concepts. The majority of the children accurately repo...
The present study evaluates the knowledge of jury-eligible college students (n = 192), investigat... more The present study evaluates the knowledge of jury-eligible college students (n = 192), investigative interviewers (n = 44), forensic psychologists (n = 39), and public defenders (n = 137) in regard to the research on interviewing children. These groups' knowledge was compared with the scientific research on the impact of interview techniques and practices on the accuracy of child witnesses. Jury-eligible students were the least knowledgeable, but their accuracy varied widely across items. Both interviewers and public defenders performed better than jury-eligible students, but they lacked substantial knowledge about the research on interviewing children on certain topics (e.g., using anatomically detailed dolls); forensic psychologists were the most knowledgeable. These findings suggest that professionals in the legal system need substantial professional development regarding the research on interviewing strategies with child witnesses. They also highlight the need for experts to provide case-relevant information to juries who lack basic information about the validity and reliability of children's reports.
ABSTRACT Allowing hearsay testimony in child abuse cases represents a dramatic and controversial ... more ABSTRACT Allowing hearsay testimony in child abuse cases represents a dramatic and controversial change to the legal system, yet little scholarly and empirical work has been devoted to the topic. This special theme issue contains 12 articles written by psycholegal scholars from the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. It is organized to address 3 basic issues that should be of interest to psycholegal. researchers, as well as police officers, judges, lawyers, and other members of the legal community. (a) How often is hearsay testimony used? How is it used in comparison to other innovations designed to protect the psychological welfare of the child witness? (b) How accurate is hearsay testimony? Is it as accurate as the child's own account? (c) Do jurors believe hearsay testimony? How much weight do or should jurors give to hearsay testimony? Two critical commentaries, one legal and one psychological, follow these articles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
... Amye R. Warren, Psychology Department, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Cara E. Woodal... more ... Amye R. Warren, Psychology Department, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Cara E. Woodall, Psychology Department, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. ... The participants represented nine different states. Various levels of education were represented. ...
Children from 5 to 12 years of age (N = 779) were shown a videotape where a preschool teacher has... more Children from 5 to 12 years of age (N = 779) were shown a videotape where a preschool teacher has money stolen from her wallet. Children were shown a lineup, and for children in the bystander condition, the lineup contained a familiar bystander without the thief. Children in the control condition viewed the same lineup but they had not seen the bystander in the videotape. Among the 11-12-year olds, participants in the bystander condition were significantly more likely than control participants to misidentify the familiar bystander. This effect was not found in children from 5 to 10 years of age. When children in the control condition were shown a lineup that contained the thief without the bystander, the 11-12-year olds were significantly more likely than the younger children to correctly identify the thief. These findings demonstrate that age can both increase and decrease the accuracy of children's lineup identification accuracy depending on the task at hand and the content of a lineup.
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