Psychopathology Flashcards - Evaluating eyewitness testimony of children.
Factors Influencing Children’s Testimony
Cognitive: Developmental stage, memory processes, suggestibility
Social: Relationships with interviewers, social pressure
Individual: Personality, experiences, trauma
What is the imoprtance of Developmentally Appropriate Protocols
The Importance of Tailored interview techniques can: “Improve accuracy of child’s testimony and
Reduce errors and false accusations”
How do children perform in Photo Lineups in Forensic Interviews
Children 5+ years old generally good at identifying culprits in “target-present” lineups.
Even older children tend to guess in “target-absent” lineups.
What is the Emotional Impact of Testifying
Potential Long-Term Effects: “Emotional distress
Attitudinal changes
Psychological trauma”
What are the Legal Protections for Children
Need for Safeguards- “Vulnerable children in criminal cases require additional protections.
Aim to mitigate long-term impacts of testifying.”
Children’s Testimony
Increasing number of children providing legal statements.
Importance of assessing credibility.
Age and Accuracy in Children’s testimony
Older children tend to provide more accurate eyewitness reports.
Preschoolers’ Memory
Can recall accurate details of significant events.
Respond well to open-ended questions.
May provide brief and incomplete reports.
Suggestibility in Preschoolers Potential Issues:
Susceptibility to leading questions.
Tendency to guess rather than say “I don’t know.”
Temporal and Quantitative Concepts
Challenges for Younger Children - Difficulty with standardized units of measurement.
Effective Questioning Techniques
Key Strategies- “Use open-ended questions.
Avoid leading questions.
Minimize suggestive questioning.”
What is a common theme in children’s testimony?
Children’s testimony often relates to negative or traumatic experiences
How does stress impact memory, specifically in traumatic events?
Stress can impact memory, with central details (e.g., main stressors) being retained well, while peripheral details may be less clear.
What is a common psychological response of child sexual abuse victims that affects memory?
Child sexual abuse victims often experience self-blame and helplessness, making it a focal point in memory and trauma debates.
How does the memory of traumatic events generally compare to non-traumatic memories?
The memory of traumatic events typically aligns with cognitive principles governing distinctive non-traumatic memories.
What is a point of debate regarding trauma and memory?
There is ongoing debate about the existence of “special memory mechanisms” (e.g., repression) in traumatic contexts.
What is one theory about how trauma affects memory?
Some theories suggest that trauma enhances memory for trauma-related details, as seen in PTSD symptoms like overfocusing on trauma cues.
What is another theory about how trauma affects memory?
Other theories propose that trauma can lead to memory gaps (e.g., amnesia for incest) or poorer recall in cases of multiple traumatic experiences.
How does the frequency of traumatic events impact memory recall?
Children exposed to single traumatic events may recall details better than those subjected to repeated trauma.
Why are these findings about trauma and memory important?
These findings are crucial for understanding and interpreting children’s testimony in legal contexts.
How does avoidant coping impact a child’s memory of a traumatic event?
Children with avoidant coping strategies tend to avoid thoughts, discussions, or reminders of the traumatic experience, leading to incomplete and less detailed memories.
What is the role of parental minimization in a child’s coping strategy?
Parental minimization or ignoring a child’s distress can reinforce avoidant coping, hindering the integration of the traumatic event into their overall memory.
How does parental support influence a child’s memory of a traumatic event?
Supportive parent-child interactions encourage rehearsal and reactivation of event details, strengthening memory traces and enhancing long-term retention.
What is the empirical evidence supporting the positive impact of parental support?
Children who received maternal support after disclosing abuse and discussed the event provided more accurate and detailed accounts and made fewer omission errors years later compared to unsupported children.
What is Suggestibility?
Suggestibility is how external factors (like leading questions) and internal factors (like age and cognitive development) can influence a person’s memory and their ability to accurately report events.
How does false information impact memory?
False information can- “Hinder the recall of accurate details
Alter true memories
Lead to false confessions or accusations”
Who is most susceptible to suggestion?
Young children, especially preschoolers, are particularly vulnerable to suggestion due to their developing cognitive abilities and reliance on adults.
How does suggestibility relate to legal contexts?
Children are generally less suggestible about negative events (like abuse) compared to positive or neutral ones. This is crucial for accurate reporting in legal proceedings.
What are some cognitive and social influences on children’s eyewitness memory?
Young children have limited knowledge and memory strategies, making it harder for them to recall events independently. They are also more susceptible to suggestions, especially when their original memories are weak.
How can false memories be formed in children?
Strong or repeated suggestions, especially in accusatory contexts, can create false memories. Preschoolers, in particular, may struggle to distinguish between real experiences and suggestions from interviewers.
What is the role of social pressure in children’s eyewitness testimony?
Children may adopt suggestions to please adults or avoid negative reactions, perceiving pressure to conform to authority figures.
How can we mitigate the risks of suggestibility in children’s eyewitness testimony?
To reduce the risk of false memories and inaccurate testimony, “Avoid misleading questions and suggestive contexts.
Minimize delays between the event and questioning.
Note” , While strong original memories can sometimes resist misinformation, it’s important to be cautious and use appropriate interviewing techniques.
What is the strongest predictor of suggestibility?
Age. Preschool children are the most suggestible, but even adults can be influenced by suggestion.
How do individual differences affect suggestibility?
While findings are inconsistent, language ability and self-concept can play a role. Children with mental retardation may be more suggestible, but intelligence itself is not a significant factor in the normal population.
What is the role of parenting in suggestibility?
Supportive parenting fosters positive self-concepts, making children more resistant to inconsistent suggestions. Conversely, poor self-concepts and unsupportive parenting can increase suggestibility.
How do cultural influences impact suggestibility?
In cultures emphasizing politeness or obedience to adults, children may struggle to reject false suggestions from authority figures.
What is the challenge in child disclosure?
Children’s likelihood of disclosing crimes like child sexual abuse through free-recall and open-ended questions is debated.
What is the goal of specialized techniques in child forensic interviews?
To increase disclosure, accuracy, and the amount of information provided by the child while minimizing inaccuracies.
What is the primary recommendation for questioning children?
Protocols recommend relying primarily on free-recall and open-ended prompts.
Under what conditions is specific questioning permitted?
Specific questioning is permitted under controlled and careful conditions.
What is Encoding Specificity?
Effective retrieval of information depends on how it was originally encoded and stored.
What is Varied Retrieval?
Using diverse methods to retrieve information can enhance recall accuracy.
What are the Core Principles of CI? Back:
Mental Reinstatement, Recreate the original context of the event.
Report Everything , “Share all details, no matter how minor.
Reverse-Order Recall” “Recall the event in reverse order.
Change Perspective” Recall the event from a different viewpoint.
What are the Original CI Techniques?
Original CI techniques, designed for adults, include social techniques like rapport building and avoiding interruptions.
What are the Benefits of Revised CI for Professional Use?
Revised CI can elicit more correct information than control interviews.
What are the Challenges of Revised CI, especially for younger children?
Reverse-order recall and change perspective techniques may increase incorrect details in younger children.
What are the Strengths of Revised CI?
Mental reinstatement and report everything techniques can reduce misinformation effects, even in preschoolers.
What is Narrative Elaboration (NE)?
NE is a technique that uses pre-interview training, instructions, and techniques to help children recall events. It focuses on general tools rather than specific event cues.
What are the objectives of NE?
To address children’s lack of knowledge about listener expectations
To improve their memory search strategies
To train children to provide detailed and relevant information
What are the key tools used in NE?
Picture cards are used as external cues to guide children in reporting forensically significant information categories.
Is NE effective?
NE enhances children’s eyewitness recall without increasing inaccuracies in reports from children aged 3 to 11.
What are the phases of the NICHD Protocol?
Rapport-Building Phase, “Establishing a comfortable environment.
Presubstantive Phase” , “Training children to respond to open-ended prompts.
Substantive Phase” Shifting focus to the substantive issue, prioritizing open-ended questions and probes.
Closing Phase, Using option-posing questions to gather essential details.
What is the purpose of the NICHD Protocol?
To translate research-based recommendations into operational guidelines for interviewing child witnesses.
How does the NICHD Protocol enhance recall?
By using recall-memory prompts, the protocol helps children access and report more accurate information.
Who is the NICHD Protocol effective for?
The protocol has been extensively tested with alleged child victims of sexual offenses and proven effective for children aged 4 and older.
What is the goal of advances in child investigative interviewing?
To enhance the usefulness and accuracy of children’s testimony.
What is the Barnahus Model?
A Nordic innovation where interviews and medical examinations occur in a child-friendly environment to promote interdisciplinary collaboration.
How does the Barnahus Model relate to the NICHD Protocol?
Countries like Finland, Iceland, and Sweden incorporate methods inspired by the NICHD Protocol in their Barnahus Model.
What is the foundation of the NICHD Protocol?
The NICHD Protocol is grounded in research and expert consensus about children’s memory, communication, and social skills.
What is the purpose of the NICHD Protocol?
To provide structured guidelines to enhance the quality and reliability of forensic interviews with children.
What is the purpose of the NICHD Protocol?
The NICHD Protocol translates research into practical steps to improve the quality of child investigative interviews, aiming to obtain accurate information and promote children’s well-being.
How does the NICHD Protocol consider child development?
The protocol addresses children’s linguistic abilities, memory retrieval capacities, suggestibility, and the impact of stress and trauma.
