Ceci and Bruck Flashcards
According to Ceci and Bruck’s (1993) review, why are children more suggestible than adults?
Because children often change their answer if asked repeatedly.
Who was listed as one fo the most cited developmental psychologists?
Ceci
What were the high profile abuse trials?
(1) Kern county child abuse case
(2) County Walk Nursery
(3) Wee Care Nursery School,
What happened in the Kern county child abuse case
- Debbie and Alvin McCuan were accused of abusing their own children by step-grandmother Mary Ann Barbour
- Accusations of sexual abuse, child prostitution, child pornography
- No phsycial evidence
- Testimony of child relied upon
- Coercive interviewing techniques used on children as witnesses
- Various individuals were coercing techniques. This limits reliability of the testimony of the child
- Sentenced to 240 years in prison
- Conviction was overturned in 1996
- 14 years in prisons
What happened in the county walk nursery
• Frank and Ileana Fuster were accused of 14 counts of abuse
– Some pretty horrible details
• Frank convicted with 165 year sentence
• Ileana pleaded guilty and turned in Frank, 10(+10) years
• Coercive interviewing of the children helped to secure conviction
what happened in the Wee Care Nursery School
- Margaret Kelly Michaels was indicted for 299 offenses in connection with the sexual assault of 33 children
- [The children] had regressed into such behavior as bed-wetting and defecating in their clothing. The witnesses said the children became afraid to be left alone or to stay in the dark.” (Narvaez, 1988)
- Sentenced to 47 years in prison but overturned after 5 years on appeal
- New Jersey Supreme Court: “the interviews of the children were highly improper and utilized coercive and unduly suggestive methods.“ (Chira, 2003)
How does coercive interview affect childrens evidence
– Suggestion
– Conformity pressure
– Speculative
What did the re-emergence of interest in suggetibility bring
- Increased admissibility of expert psychological testimony
- Social scientists want to do research relevant to the time
- Increased number of crimes involving child victims in courts
- Continuation of research on adult suggestibility
What did Binet discuss
Binet (1900): La suggestibilité
Dangers of repeated leading questions
Advantages of free recall over closed (yes/no) questions
what is autosuggestion (Binet)
• Children were given lines with no instructions
• They had to guess the sixth one
o Would be longer if in a pattern
• Children draw what they expect rather than what is true
What did King and Yuille find about children being more suggestible than adults
Participants: 6-, 9-, 11- and 16-year-olds
Procedure:
• Seated in a room when somebody came in to water the plants; the stranger looked at the clock and indicated it was late
• Children were interviewed with some leading questions, e.g. “On which arm did the man wear his watch?” (he didn’t wear one)
Results:
• 6-year-olds more suggestible than 9-16’s
• 6-year-olds recalled less detail
What did Fin find if children are more suggestible than older children
Participants: 6 year-olds, 10 year-olds and adults
Procedure:
• Exposed to an argument during a lecture on foot hygiene
• Half questioned 1 day later, all questioned 5 months later
• 3 questions contained erroneous suggestions
Results:
• Reponses were highly accurate in both interviews
• Responses were highly accurate for all ages
• Only a few participants accepted the erroneous information
What are the cogntivie factors
- trace theory
2. source monitorig theory
What is the trace theory
Verbatim Trace: Surface detail about the event
Gist Trace: General meaning of the event
Developmental differences in the reliance on each trace type
what is source monitoring theory
- Suggestibility = difficulties in determining the source of information
- Developmental differences in source monitoring
what are the social factors
- Children think adults are credible, competent sources
- Children try to answer adults’ questions
- Children often change their answer if asked repeatedly
Why do children lie
a. To avoid punishment
b. To protect others
c. To keep a promise
d. For personal gain
e. To avoid embarrassment
f. To sustain a game
What did Myers suggest
• Negative ‘spin’ and the damage to child protection
• Are ‘most’ interviews conducted improperly?
• Devalued any research which emphasizes children’s strengths
Biased review of the literature
What did Goodman suggest about memory
• Non-maltreated children’s memories for stressful events
= a medical procedure involving urethral catheterization
• Main predictors of inaccuracies and suggestibility were:
1. Lack of understanding of the event
2. Lack of parental communication about the event
3. Children’s emotional reaction to the event
What did Pollak et al suggest
Maltreated children are ‘hypervigilant’ to negative stimuli and…
Maughan and Ciccetti (2002)
… have a difficult time shifting attention away from the stimulus
What did Eisen comment
• Maltreated and non-maltreated children report on anogenital examination
Result:
• Maltreated = non-maltreated for memory and suggestibility
• Victims of physical/sexual abuse provided more correct answers
• There are unlikely to be differences in general memory skills
what did Bruck and Melnyk find abotu attachment
Parental Attachment (Bruck & Melnyk, 2004) • Secure attachment = accurate/complete reports of stressful events • Avoidant attachment = suggestibility about stressful events
what did Bowlby find
• Attachment system activated during times of stress
• If the attachment figure is aggressive, the child will soon learn to be independent and avoid processing emotional stimuli
– Avoid the discomfort of dealing with it on their own
They ‘switch off’ the attachment system
Who developed National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Protocal?
Lamb et al
WHat is National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Protocal
- Focus on free recall answers to open questions
- Cued questions incorporating the child’s own words (avoids leading and/or distorting the child’s credibility)
- Avoid questions which include misinformation
- No props (e.g. anatomically correct dolls)
What are taint hearings
• Pre-trial hearing to assess whether coercive interviewing had permanently ‘tainted’ (altered) the child’s memory
• Could also be used for attorneys to discredit children’s testimony
Eventually considered unnecessary
what is Children’s Advocacy Centers (worldwide)
• Promote concerns over child suggestibility
• Repeated interviewing may not harm memory but is very stressful
• Children interviewed once by a highly trained professional
– Police, District Attorney and Child Protection Services present
– All relevant questions asked in one interview
– Typically recorded for objective record
