Citation

Lyon TD, Malloy LC, Quas JA, Talwar VA. Child Dev. 2008; 79(4): 914-929.

Affiliation

University of Southern California Law School, University of Southern California, 699 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0071, USA. tlyon@law.usc.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01167.x

PMID

18717898

PMCID

PMC2856485

Abstract

This study examined the effects of coaching (encouragement and rehearsal of false reports) and truth induction (a child-friendly version of the oath or general reassurance about the consequences of disclosure) on 4- to 7-year-old maltreated children's reports (N = 198). Children were questioned using free recall, repeated yes-no questions, and highly suggestive suppositional questions. Coaching impaired children's accuracy. For free-recall and repeated yes-no questions, the oath exhibited some positive effects, but this effect diminished in the face of highly suggestive questions. Reassurance had few positive effects and no ill effects. Neither age nor understanding of the meaning and negative consequences of lying consistently predicted accuracy. The results support the utility of truth induction in enhancing the accuracy of child witnesses' reports.

Language: en