Citation

Ahern EC, Andrews SJ, Stolzenberg SN, Lyon TD. J. Interpers. Violence 2018; 33(13): 2007-2015.

Affiliation

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0886260515621084

PMID

26668179

Abstract

Child witnesses are often asked wh- prompts (what, how, why, who, when, where) in forensic interviews. However, little research has examined the ways in which children respond to different wh- prompts, and no previous research has investigated productivity differences among wh- prompts in investigative interviews. This study examined the use and productivity of wh- prompts in 95 transcripts of 4- to 13-year-olds alleging sexual abuse in child investigative interviews. What-how questions about actions elicited the most productive responses during both the rapport building and substantive phases. Future research and practitioner training should consider distinguishing among different wh- prompts.

Language: en