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Published on: May 3, 2016
Reducing maltreated children's reluctance to answer hypothetical oath-taking competency questions
T D Lyon1, K J Saywitz, D L Kaplan
1University of Southern California Law School, Los Angeles, California, USA. tlyon@law.usc.edu
Law and Human Behavior
|March 30, 2001
Summary
Courts ask children about lying consequences before testimony. Asking about another child, not themselves, improved young witnesses' responses, suggesting a potential underestimation of their competency.
Area of Science:
- Child Psychology
- Legal Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Courts require child witnesses to explain consequences of lying before testifying.
- Young children may refuse hypothetical reasoning if premises are implausible or undesirable.
- Children might be more willing to discuss consequences of lying when asked about another child versus themselves.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how asking child witnesses about the consequences of lying affects their willingness to respond.
- To determine if asking about hypothetical scenarios involving "self" versus "other" influences children's reasoning about punishment for dishonesty.
- To assess the impact of this method on evaluating children's oath-taking competency.
Main Methods:
- 64 maltreated 5- and 6-year-old children participated.
- Participants were divided into "self" and "other" conditions.
- Children described consequences of lying to a judge, social worker, or doctor.
Main Results:
- Asking children about "other" children significantly increased responsiveness compared to asking about "self".
- The "other" condition did not reveal perceptions of invulnerability among the child participants.
- Reluctance to discuss personal consequences of lying may lead to underestimation of oath-taking competency.
Conclusions:
- Framing questions about lying consequences using a "story child" enhances young children's willingness to engage.
- This approach may provide a more accurate assessment of children's understanding of honesty and consequences.
- Findings suggest a need to re-evaluate methods for assessing child witness competency to avoid underestimation.
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