Suggestibility of the child witness: a historical review and synthesis

Communication between courts and expert witnesses in legal proceedings concerning child sexual abuse in Sweden: a case review

OBJECTIVE

The objective was to explore the communication between courts and expert witnesses in legal proceedings concerning child sexual abuse in Sweden.

METHOD

A cross professional research team performed a qualitative text analysis of files covering 20 court cases (court report and expert witness statement) from 4 different years (1985, 1989, 1992, and 1997).

RESULTS

Expert witnesses applied a wide variety of assessment procedures. Several patterns of communicative difficulties were identified, categorized as "mismatch," "misunderstanding," "misuse," and "missing pieces." Experts and courts sometimes used similar words (e.g., "credibility") but seemed to apply different meanings to them, indicating a lack of a mutual conceptual framework.

CONCLUSIONS

The combination of brief expert assignments and diverse assessment procedures turned out to be a specific risk factor for communicative impairment. Alternate strategies for improved communication are discussed.

A case study of child sexual false allegation

PURPOSE

The objectives of the case study reported in this article were twofold. The first objective was to follow the path by which a naive suggestion made in the course of a mother-child conversation was transformed into an allegation of severe sexual abuse. The second objective was to analyze the child's interview scientifically and explore the limitations of scientific tools for detecting implausible allegations.

METHODS

Independent case facts were collected and analyzed to determine whether the event described by the child was likely to have happened. The credibility of the child's account was assessed using Criterion-Based Content Analysis and the information provided in both the "implausible" and "corrected" statements was compared to quantify the fabricated details in the implausible statement.

RESULTS

The event described by the child was "very unlikely to have happened" but the credibility assessment failed to detect its implausibility. Comparison of the two statements revealed that the child did fabricate central details but incorporated them into a description of an event she really experienced, and most of the information provided was truthful.

CONCLUSIONS

The pressure to conform to suggestions can be irresistible, inducing some children to make false allegations of severe sexual abuse. Scientific tools designed for credibility assessment are limited and may fail to detect implausible statements especially when they incorporate information about genuinely experienced events.

Source monitoring and false memories in children: relation to certainty and executive functioning

We presented children aged 6, 8, and 10 years with a video and then an audio tape about a dog named Mick. Some information was repeated in the two sources and some was unique to one source. We examined: (a) children's hit rate for remembering whether events occurred and their tendency to make false alarms, (b) their memory for the context in which events occurred (source monitoring), (c) their certainty about hits, false alarms, and source, and (d) whether working memory and inhibition were related to hits, false alarms, and source monitoring. The certainty ratings revealed deficits in children's understanding of when they had erred on source questions and of when they had made false alarms. In addition, inhibitory ability accounted for unique variance in the ability to avoid false alarms and in some kinds of source monitoring but not hits. In contrast, working memory tended to correlate with all forms of memory including hits.

Memory: an overview, with emphasis on developmental, interpersonal, and neurobiological aspects

OBJECTIVE

To review recent findings from memory research and related scientific studies and to provide an overview of their implications for clinical practice.

METHOD

Published research data from a range of scientific disciplines are summarized and integrated into a conceptual framework regarding the interpersonal, neurobiological, and subjective nature of the development of memory.

RESULTS

Memory is a fundamental property of the human mind that has been the focus of research of a wide range of academic disciplines. Convergent findings from these various studies suggest that the fundamental elements of memory can be best understood by focusing on its origins in the brain and the impact of social communication on its development.

CONCLUSIONS

An interdisciplinary approach is important for the clinician who seeks to understand the various layers of memory that develop during the early years of life.

The credibility of children's testimony: can children control the accuracy of their memory reports?

In previous work with adults (A. Koriat & M. Goldsmith, 1994, 1996c), it was shown that people can enhance the accuracy of their testimony substantially when they (a) are effective in monitoring the correctness of their answers, (b) are free to control their reporting accordingly (i.e., to decide which pieces of information to volunteer and which to withhold), and (c) are given incentives for accurate reporting. A theoretical model was developed, which specifies the critical role of metacognitive monitoring and control processes in mediating free-report memory accuracy. The present study applies that model to examine the strategic regulation of memory accuracy by children. Three experiments indicate that both younger (ages 7 to 9) and older (ages 10 to 12) children can enhance the accuracy of their testimony by screening out wrong answers under free-report conditions but suggest a developmental trend in the level of memory accuracy that is thereby achieved. The implications of the results for the dependability of children's testimony in legal settings are discussed.

Age-related changes in the misinformation effect

In these experiments, we examined the relation between age-related changes in retention and age-related changes in the misinformation effect. Children (5- and 6- and 11- and 12-year-olds) and adults viewed a video, and their memory was assessed immediately, 1 day, or 6 weeks later (Experiment 1). There were large age-related differences in retention when participants were interviewed immediately and after 1 day, but after the 6-week delay, age-related differences in retention were minimal. In Experiment 2, 11- and 12-year-olds and adults were exposed to neutral, leading, and misleading postevent information 1 day or 6 weeks after they viewed the video. Exposure to misleading information increased the number of commission errors, particularly when participants were asked about peripheral aspects of the video. At both retention intervals, children were more likely than adults to incorporate the misleading postevent information into their subsequent verbal accounts. These findings indicate that age-related changes in the misinformation effect are not predicted by age-related changes in retention.

A demonstration and comparison of two types of inference-based memory errors

Participants viewed slides depicting ordinary routines (e.g., going grocery shopping) and later received a recognition test. In Experiment 1, there was higher recognition confidence to high-schema-relevant than to low-schema-relevant items. In Experiment 2, participants viewed slide sequences that sometimes contained a cause (e.g., woman taking orange from bottom of pile) but not an effect scene (oranges on floor), or an effect but not a cause scene. Participants mistook new cause scenes as old when they viewed the effect; false alarms to cause scenes and high-schema-relevant items increased with retention interval. Experiment 3 showed that the backward inference effect was accompanied by false explicit recollection, whereas false alarms to schema-high foils were based on familiarity. This suggests that the 2 types of inferential errors are produced by different underlying mechanisms.

Children's testimony: a review of research on memory for past experiences

This review of children's testimony focuses on research related to memory for past experiences. The aspects of the memory system that are involved in testimony are discussed and the development of autobiographical memory is examined. Relevant research findings are summarized in the context of an information-processing model of memory and the implications of this work for clinical practice are outlined. We conclude that (1) under certain conditions, even very young children can remember and report past experiences with some accuracy over very long periods of time; (2) substantial and significant developmental differences have been demonstrated in children's abilities to provide eyewitness testimony; (3) children can be influenced in a variety of ways to provide complete and elaborated reports of events that never occurred; and (4) even experts cannot always tell the difference between true and false reports.

Reality monitoring of performed and imagined interactive events: developmental and contextual effects

Age differences in reality monitoring of interactive events were examined among 4-year-olds, 8-year-olds, 12-year-olds, and adults. Participants engaged in some interactions and imagined others. Afterward, they were asked to determine whether each action was performed, imagined, or new. This memory test was repeated 1 week later. The 4-year-olds had more difficulty discriminating imagined actions than the two oldest age groups. Imagined actions were more often confused with performed ones than the reverse, though this bias was significant only for the two younger age groups. Reality monitoring decreased over time, especially for imagined items. Activities in which the participant was the agent of action were discriminated better than those in which someone else was the agent of action. Object use during the activity increased the discrimination of imagined actions, especially after the delay. Similarity among actions had no effect. Implications for child eyewitness testimony are discussed.

"What else could he have done?" Creating false answers in child witnesses by inviting speculation

In 2 experiments (N = 111 children), a suggestive technique for interviewing child witnesses called "inviting speculation" was examined. Children were presented with atypical actions for common objects in a clown show. One week later, the children were asked to speculate (e.g., "What else could he have done with the knife?") in a between-subjects design on all or none of the items (Experiment 1) and in a within-subjects design on part of the items (Experiment 2), thereby getting highly probable speculations (e.g., "to cut"). After a 3-week delay, the experimenters found more highly probable but not more other false answers for the experimental items (Experiment 2). After a 5-6-month delay, the rate of (unspecified) false answers increased compared with the baseline (Experiments 1 and 2). The short-term effect is explained by a speculation-as-misinformation assumption, whereas the long-term effect is explained by the use of a metastrategy.

On the interpretation of pictures with and without a content of child sexual abuse

OBJECTIVE

The purposes of the three experiments were to validate the possibility of a picture to evoke the recognition of child sexual abuse, to determine if the picture was anxiety evoking, and to investigate if the content of child sexual abuse would be transferred to a neutral picture.

METHOD

In all three experiments, adult men and women were presented with a drawing intended to depict child sexual abuse, and were requested to interpret the picture. Experiment 1: Before and after the picture presentation, 226 participants were given a test of anxiety. Experiment 2: After the exposure of the child abuse picture, 200 new participants were asked to interpret an innocent child-adult picture. Experiment 3: To complete Experiment 2, 89 new participants were asked to interpret the pictures in the reverse order.

RESULTS

Almost three-fourths of the participants saw child sexual abuse in the picture with a sexual threat. Those in Experiment 1 who saw the picture as child sexual abuse or as a problematic child-adult situation without sexual implications reported a significant increase of anxiety level. None in Experiment 2 or 3 saw child sexual abuse in the innocent picture. The sex of the abused child was significantly more often interpreted as opposite to one's own sex.

CONCLUSIONS

The study indicates some people's deficient capacity to recognize the message of child sexual abuse in the picture. It seems that certain people can spare themselves anxiety by not registering the child's precarious situation or not seeing the child as being of their own sex. This has implications for the recognition of child sexual abuse in society. It was also shown that a sexual abuse theme was not transferred from one context to another context, which immediately followed it.

Children's eyewitness reports after exposure to misinformation from parents

This study examined how misleading suggestions from parents influenced children's eyewitness reports. Children (3 to 8 years old) participated in science demonstrations, listened to their parents read a story that described experienced and nonexperienced events, and subsequently discussed the science experience in two follow-up interviews. Many children described fictitious events in response to open-ended prompts, and there were no age differences in suggestibility during this phase of the interview. Accuracy declined markedly in response to direct questions, especially for the younger children. Although the older children retracted many of their false reports after receiving source-monitoring instructions, the younger children did not. Path analyses indicated that acquiescence, free recall, and source monitoring all contribute to mediating patterns of suggestibility across age. Results indicate that judgments about the accuracy of children's testimony must consider the possibility of exposure to misinformation prior to formal interviews.

Remembering and reporting by children: the influence of cues and props

Until recently nonverbal props received little experimental attention in spite of the wide use of props such as toys and drawing in child clinical contexts. This article reviews research investigating the effectiveness of props as means of facilitating children's recall and reporting of past events. In the first section, developmental and theoretical considerations influencing effectiveness of various kinds of props as aids to the retrieval and communication of information are outlined. Thereafter, findings of empirical research are reviewed for real props from the event, toys including dolls, drawing, context reinstatement, and photographs. Research findings suggest that a range of factors influence the extent to which props facilitate children's reports of past events, including specificity of the information provided by the prop, the way the prop is presented during the interview, delay between the event and interview and, critical to these factors, the age of the child. Areas requiring future theoretical and research attention are identified.

The relationship between within-interview contradictions and eliciting interviewer utterances

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether interview practices associated with inaccurate reporting in laboratory analog contexts were also associated with inaccurate information in actual forensic contexts.

METHOD

The forensic interview of a 5-year-old girl, an alleged victim of sexual abuse, was analyzed to explore interview practices associated with the retrieval of contradictory information. Content analyses of the child's responses focused on: (1) new informative details about the reported incidents; (2) contradictory details; (3) "central" and "peripheral" details; and (4) the types of utterances used to elicit each detail.

RESULTS

The results illustrate how risky option-posing and suggestive utterances can be, as most (90%) contradicting details were elicited using option-posing and suggestive utterances and almost all (98%) of the contradicted and contradicting details were central, containing crucial information concerning the investigated allegation. No contradictory details were elicited in response to open-ended invitations.

CONCLUSION

The findings demonstrate that poor interviewing practices can be associated with high levels of internal contradiction and should be avoided by forensic interviewers. To avoid contaminating children's reports and increase the likely accuracy of the information retrieved, moreover, interviewers should elicit as much information as possible using open-ended utterances, which tap free-recall memory.

Toward a psychology of memory accuracy

There has been unprecedented interest in recent years in questions pertaining to accuracy and distortion in memory. This interest, catalyzed in part by real-life problems, marks a significant departure from the quantity-oriented approach that has characterized much of traditional memory research. We outline a correspondence metaphor of memory underlying accuracy-oriented research, and show how the features of this metaphor are manifested across the disparate bodies of research reviewed here. These include work in the Gestalt tradition, spatial memory, memory for gist, schema theory, source monitoring, fluency misattributions, false recall and recognition, postevent misinformation, false memories, eyewitness research, and autobiographical memory. In examining the dynamics of memory accuracy, we highlight the importance of metacognitive monitoring and control processes. We end by discussing some of the methodological, theoretical, and metatheoretical issues inherent in accuracy-oriented research, attempting to prepare the groundwork for a more coherent psychology of memory accuracy.

The relationship between interview characteristics and accuracy of recall in young children: do individual differences matter?

The relationship between interview characteristics and accuracy of recall in young children, as mediated by child characteristics, was examined. The interview characteristics included preinterview instructions and level of questioning. Fifty-six children ranging from ages 3 to 6 years participated in a Circus Day event and were interviewed 10 days later. Following either instructions or filler questions, children were questioned about the event. Results indicated that based on several individual difference factors, young children varied significantly in the accuracy of their interviews and their ability to resist misleading questions. However, individual differences did not mediate children's ability to benefit from different question types or preinterview instructions. As a whole, children provided limited information to the most open-ended questions and more correct information to highly structured questions. In contrast to the research with older children, younger children did not benefit from preinterview instructions. Suggestions for future research and implications for investigative interviews in the field of child abuse are discussed.

Preadolescent adjudicative competence: methodological considerations and recommendations for practice standards

This article examines developmental and legal issues directed toward a downward age extension of forensic evaluation practice standards for preadolescent defendants whose competence is questioned. Existing research and practice standards were developed for cases involving adolescents and adults, but they lack sufficient application to evaluations of young children because of the ways in which legal parameters affect young children. We review practice implications of the legal role of "immaturity" for adjudicative competence, alterations of Dusky in some juvenile courts, and the role of parens patriae in competence hearings held in juvenile court. We examine competence abilities in a developmental framework. Examining practice standards is timely because adjudicative competence in preadolescent defendants has taken on recent significance. The last decade saw changes in the stringency of delinquency statutes, increased emphasis on adversarial approaches to juvenile proceedings, and a de-emphasis on rehabilitation and parens patriae protections. Statutory changes and increased referrals have heightened inquiry into the meaning of preadolescent adjudicative competence.

Examining child sexual abuse evaluations: the types of information affecting expert judgment

OBJECTIVE

There were two aims: First, to determine to what extent four variables, disclosure, doll play, affect and collateral information, affect the decision-making processes of child sexual abuse experts and lay persons when confronted with an abuse allegation, and second, to see how these two groups of raters might differ from one another.

METHOD

A randomized block partially confounded factorial design was used. Participants made abuse likelihood and confidence ratings in response to six hypothetical cases of child sexual abuse, four of which had varying combinations of the four types of information and two of which were constant across all raters. Participants also completed attitudes and knowledge questionnaires.

RESULTS

Disclosure and collateral information both had large effects on both rater groups. Doll play and affect had little or no effect on the decisions of either group. Experts were slightly more conservative in their judgments over all than students were. Experts also displayed more knowledge of the sexual abuse literature and more child-believing attitudes than their student counterparts.

CONCLUSION

Concrete information such as disclosure statements and collateral information affected abuse decisions while inferential data such as doll play and affect did not. The goal of these evaluations may be the clarification of such concrete information and the inferential data may be used only to guide one's inquiry. This conclusion argues against the concern that experts might jump to conclusions of abuse merely based upon suggestive, symbolic material.

Transition from novelty to familiarity preference depending on recognition performance by 4-yr.-olds

Preference seems to depend exclusively on individual tastes; however, preferential behavior may be determined by memory, as past studies have shown that preferences for objects depended on whether objects had been previously experienced. Infants and young children prefer novel stimuli, while adults prefer familiar stimuli. To investigate the relationship between memory and preference directly, a preference task and a recognition task were administered to the same subjects. The subjects were 4-yr.-olds because Uehara observed a change in preference for novelty and familiarity in 4-yr.-olds, depending on their recognition performance. The results were similar to those of Uehara. The children who had lower scores in the recognition task preferred the novel stimuli in the preference task, and the children who had higher scores preferred the familiar. Developmental changes within children, from low scores on recognition coupled with novelty preference to high scores on recognition coupled with familiarity preference, were observed.

Draw It again Sam: the effect of drawing on children's suggestibility and source monitoring ability

Preschool children (aged 3 to 6 years) participated in a magic show. Later, the children were given repeated true and false reminders about the show. Half the children were asked to draw these true and false reminders (drawing condition) and half the children were asked questions about the reminders but not to draw them (question condition). Later, children in the drawing condition had better recall of true reminders than children in the question group; however, children in the drawing group also recalled more false reminders than children in the question group. Finally, although children in the drawing group had better memory of the source of the reminders than children in the question group, both groups equally reported that the false reminders actually happened.

Memory development and event-related brain potentials in children

This review examines the evidence for the maturation of memory function during childhood using event-related brain potentials (ERP), and behavioral measures. It has been shown that brain structures implicated in different forms of memory mature during the first and into the second decade of life. Whereas the maturation rates of implicit and explicit memory have not been directly assessed in the literature, studies of the maturation of the corresponding brain regions imply that there should be a progression in the maturation of the different forms of memory. This review also motivates the use of brain imaging techniques for investigation of memory systems during the developing years. Although, only a handful of such studies with children are currently available, they demonstrate that such techniques can provide information that may be unavailable otherwise. For example, when children fail to generate the ERP old/new effect, an index of episodic retrieval, it has been suggested that they may lack the necessary pre-existing representations in their long-term lexical or semantic memories. Similarly, age-related differences in ERP scalp topography during source memory paradigms suggest that children, who do not appear to show frontal scalp activity, lack inputs from frontal regions that are necessary for successful retrieval of source information. Future research with children will reveal more details about the nature of mnemonic processing during the developmental years.

Interviewing techniques in sexual abuse cases - a comparison of a day-care abuse case with normal abuse cases 1I thank Jim at the University of Texas, El Paso, USA for letting me participate in his project, for his support, comments and suggestions

In sexual abuse cases children's testimony plays an important role. To evaluate the quality of a witness' statement, the interviewing techniques and the context of the investigative interview have to be considered. The interviewing techniques from the highly publicized day care abuse cases during the 1980s have been repeatedly found to be directive and suggestive. Many of these interviewing techniques, such as positive and negative reinforcement, inducing stereotypes and repeated questioning within and between interviews, have been shown empirically to elicit false statements from young children. Many different interview guidelines point to this problem and suggest alternative interviewing techniques. Overall, there are few quantitative studies of interviewer behavior in sexual abuse cases. None of these has compared the interviewer behavior in a day care abuse case with interviewer behavior in “normal” sexual abuse cases by the Child Protective Service (CPS) in the USA. A first study compared behavior in these two contexts and confirmed the notion that the amount of suggestive interviewing techniques is significantly higher in a sample of day care abuse interviews than in a sample of CPS interviews. These results support the former statements of Ceci & Bruck (1995) that interviews with child witnesses in sexual abuse cases, especially in day care ritual abuse cases, include suggestive interviewing techniques. These have to be discussed considering their impact on statements of child witnesses.

Memory for acute stress disorder symptoms: a two-year prospective study

The present study aimed to index the accuracy of memory for acute trauma symptoms by comparing the symptoms reported by motor vehicle accident (MVA) victims within 1 month posttrauma with the recall of these symptoms at 2 years posttrauma. Ninety-two consecutive MVA admissions were assessed for the presence of acute stress disorder (ASD) within 1 month posttrauma. At 2 years posttrauma, 61% (N = 56) of the sample were reassessed for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and for accuracy of recall of the symptoms reported during the first assessment. At least one of the four ASD diagnostic clusters was recalled inaccurately by 75% of patients. High levels of posttraumatic stress severity and high subjective ratings of injury severity at 2 years posttrauma were associated with errors of addition (i.e., recalling the presence of acute symptoms 2 years posttrauma that were not reported during the first assessment). Low levels of posttraumatic stress severity and low subjective ratings of injury severity at 2 years posttrauma were associated with errors of omission (i.e., omitting to recall acute symptoms 2 years posttrauma that were reported during the first assessment). These results suggest that retrospective reports of acute stress symptoms should be interpreted cautiously because of the influence of current symptoms on recall of acute symptoms.

Differences in episodic memory between four- and five-year-olds: false information versus real experiences

It is assumed that personal episodes from any age less than about four years can rarely be recalled (infantile amnesia) because episodic memory is not well developed until this age. To investigate this, experiments were conducted with 30 4- and 30 5-yr.-olds. Experiments first examined whether the children could report parent-child games in a sports festival two days after the festival. The results indicated that 4-yr.-olds could not report the episodic contents of the games properly even though they reported the results of the ball matches as well as the 5-yr.-olds. Seven days after that report, the subject was told twice by the experimenter about realistic or unrealistic events as if these were their own experiences. The subject was again required to report the events seven days after receiving information. The results showed that 4-yr.-olds tended to mistake the information provided by the experimenter for their own real experiences. These results indicate that there may be a critical difference of episodic memory between 4- and 5-yr.-olds. Episodic memory was not well developed yet in 4-yr.-olds.

How sexual abuse interviews go astray: implications for prosecutors, police, and child protection services

This article argues that child sexual abuse interviews can go astray in two different ways: (a) improper interviewing has the potential to elicit false allegations from children, and (b) clumsy interviewing does not typically produce false allegations, but may have other negative consequences, particularly for child victims. The article clarifies the distinction between the two kinds of bad interviewing and suggests that clumsy interviewing is the more common of the two. The potential negative consequences of both improper and clumsy interviewing are described, along with implications for prosecutors, police, and child protection services. In the authors' opinion, improper interviewing can probably be eliminated rather easily, but clumsy interviewing may be considerably more resistant to change.

Criminal investigation of child sexual abuse: a comparison of cases referred to the prosecutor to those not referred

OBJECTIVE

The present study sought to identify characteristics of child sexual abuse cases which differentiate cases referred for criminal prosecution ("criminal-action") from those not referred ("dropped") by investigators.

METHOD

The study sample consisted of 1043 children who completed a forensic interview for sexual abuse that allegedly occurred at the hands of an adult between January 1, 1993 and December 31, 1996 in Bernalillo County of New Mexico. Data was systematically obtained from forensic interview files and offender records at the local prosecutor's office.

RESULTS

Differences between criminal-action and dropped cases were found in relation to the children (age, sex and ethnicity), the alleged offenders (age, sex and relationship to child), and the case characteristics (disclosure and injury to the child).

CONCLUSIONS

The present study provided insight into the characteristics of a previously ignored population (reported child sexual abuse cases that are not referred for prosecution). Recommendations are made to address the needs of these children and their families.

The catechism effect: child testimonies during a 17th-century witch panic as related to educational achievement

Testimonies from 488 children given to the priests of the parish of Rättvik during a preliminary investigation of a Swedish witch panic in 1670-71 are examined in relation to records from parish catechetical meetings held in 1671. The result implies that children who knew and understood at least parts of Luther's catechism were less liable to have falsely alleged that they had been kidnapped by female satanists during the witch panic of the previous year. It is suggested that these effects were caused by differences in cognitive, social, and emotional resources among these children as compared to those who were unable to learn and understand any parts of Luther's catechism.

Child characteristics which impact accuracy of recall and suggestibility in preschoolers: is age the best predictor?

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether individual difference factors of metamemory, intelligence, and temperament can improve the ability to predict accuracy of recall and suggestibility in preschoolers.

METHOD

Fifty-six children ranging in age from 43 months to 83 months (M = 61, SD = 9) were recruited from 13 child care centers in a rural southeastern town. Children participated in a "Circus Day" event conducted by two female undergraduate psychology students dressed as clowns. Approximately 10 days (M = 10; SD = 2) after the event, children were interviewed regarding their experiences.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

Bivariate correlations and multiple regression analyses were performed in order to determine which factors were related and unique contributors to accuracy of recall and suggestibility. Of principal importance is the finding that child characteristics such as metamemory ability, intellectual functioning, and temperament may indeed be helpful in determining a child's capacity to accurately recall information in an interview, although for the most part age is the best predictor. Findings also underscore the importance of considering a child's SES and race when planning and conducting interviews with young children. Possible explanations for these findings as well as implications for future research and clinical application are discussed.

Allegations of wrongdoing: the effects of reinforcement on children's mundane and fantastic claims

S. Garven, J. M. Wood, R. S. Malpass, and J. S. Shaw (1998) found that the interviewing techniques used in the McMartin Preschool case can induce preschool children to make false allegations of wrong doing against a classroom visitor. In this study, 2 specific components of the McMartin interviews, reinforcement and cowitness information, were examined more closely in interviews of 120 children, ages 5 to 7 years. Children who received reinforcement made 35% false allegations against a classroom visitor, compared with 12% made by controls. When questioned about "fantastic" events (e.g., being taken from school in a helicopter), children receiving reinforcement made 52% false allegations, compared with 5% made by controls. In a second interview, children repeated the allegations even when reinforcement had been discontinued. The findings indicate that reinforcement can swiftly induce children to make persistent false allegations of wrong doing.

Delay in disclosure of childhood rape: results from a national survey

OBJECTIVE

This study sought to gather representative data regarding the length of time women who were raped before age 18 delayed prior to disclosing such rapes, whom they disclosed to, and variables that predicted disclosure within 1 month.

METHOD

Data were gathered from 3,220 Wave II respondents from the National Women's Study (Resnick, Kilpatrick, Dansky, Saunders, & Best, 1993), a nationally representative telephone survey of women's experiences with trauma and mental health. Of these, 288 retrospectively reported at least one rape prior to their 18th birthday. Details of rape experiences were analyzed to identify predictors of disclosure within 1 month.

RESULTS

Fully 28% of child rape victims reported that they had never told anyone about their child rape prior to the research interview; 47% did not disclose for over 5 years post-rape. Close friends were the most common confidants. Younger age at the time of rape, family relationship with the perpetrator, and experiencing a series of rapes were associated with disclosure latencies longer than 1 month; shorter delays were associated with stranger rapes. Logistic regression revealed that age at rape and knowing the perpetrator were independently predictive of delayed disclosure.

CONCLUSIONS

Delayed disclosure of childhood rape was very common, and long delays were typical. Few variables were identified that successfully predicted disclosure behavior, but older age and rape by a stranger were associated with more rapid disclosure. This suggests that the likelihood of disclosure in a given case is difficult to estimate, and predictions based on single variables are unwarranted.

Dissociating automatic and intentional processes in children's eyewitness memory

Two experiments investigated the contribution of automatic and intentional memory processes to 5- and 8-year-old children's acceptance of misinformation. Children were presented with a picture story followed by misleading postevent details that either were read to participants or were self-generated in response to semantic and perceptual hints. Children were then given a recognition test under 2 instructional conditions. In the inclusion condition children reported whether they remembered items from either of the previous phases. In the exclusion condition children were instructed to exclude postevent suggestions. Children were more likely to accept misled-generate items compared to misled-read items in the inclusion condition, but the opposite was the case under exclusion instructions. Both automaticity and recollection (cf. L. L. Jacoby, 1991) influenced misinformation acceptance, but the role of automatic processes declined with age.

Der Einfluß von Metakognitionen und vorheriger Irreführung auf die Identifikationsleistung kindlicher Augenzeugen1 1 Wir bedanken uns bei den Mitgliedern der DFG-finanzierten Forschergruppe “Kognitive Entwicklung” für ihre Unterstützung und die hilfreichen Kommentare

Zusammenfassung. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Studie war es, die Rolle metakognitiver Überwachungsprozesse in dem angewandten Kontext einer Identifikationsaufgabe zu überprüfen. Dazu wurde Vorschülern, Zweitkläßlern und Erwachsenen ein kurzer Videofilm über einen Konflikt zwischen Kindern vorgeführt. Drei Wochen später wurden der Hälfte der Versuchspersonen irreführende Distraktoren vorgelegt. Vier Wochen nach der Videodemonstration wurde die Identifikationsaufgabe, bei der die sieben Gesichter der beteiligten Kinder aus dem Film unter Distraktoren wiederzuerkennen waren, in zwei verschiedenen Versionen (sequentielle und simultane Darbietung der Photos) durchgeführt. Zur Erfassung metakognitiver Kompetenzen wurden Sicherheitsurteile zu den Identifikationen erhoben. Die Auswertung der Wiedererkennungsleistungen ergab insgesamt keinen klaren Alterstrend: bessere Identifikationsraten der Erwachsenen im Vergleich zu den Kindern ließen sich lediglich bei sequentieller, nicht aber bei simultaner Darbietung der Photos finden. Dabei waren in allen Altersgruppen negative Effekte der vorangegangenen Irreführung nachweisbar. In bezug auf die Sicherheitsurteile konnte festgestellt werden, daß sich die Kinder sowohl bei korrekten als auch bei falschen Identifikationen sicherer waren als die Erwachsenen und somit Schwierigkeiten hatten, die Sicherheit ihrer Erinnerung adäqaut einzuschätzen. Damit konnten Befunde aus der Grundlagenforschung zum prozeduralen Metagedächtnis bestätigt und deren Relevanz in einem angewandten Kontext aufgezeigt werden.