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Unwarranted Assumptions about Children's Testimonial Accuracy.
Stephen J Ceci1, Sarah Kulkofsky, J Zoe Klemfuss
1Department of Human Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. sjc9@cornell.edu
Annual Review of Clinical Psychology
|August 25, 2007
Summary
This study identifies eight unwarranted assumptions regarding children's eyewitness reports. It highlights flawed beliefs about suggestive interviews, suggestibility, and the detectability of tainted reports in legal and forensic settings.
Area of Science:
- Forensic Psychology
- Child Witness Testimony
- Legal Psychology
Background:
- Expert witnesses, forensic interviewers, and legal scholars often rely on assumptions about children's eyewitness accounts.
- These assumptions can impact the perceived reliability of child testimony in legal proceedings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To critically examine eight specific unwarranted assumptions concerning the reliability of children's eyewitness reports.
- To inform researchers, expert witnesses, and legal professionals about these flawed beliefs.
Main Methods:
- Literature review and critical analysis of existing beliefs and research findings.
- Examination of assumptions related to suggestive interviewing techniques, age-related suggestibility, and factors influencing report accuracy.
Main Results:
- Identified four assumptions challenging beliefs about suggestive interviews, age differences in suggestibility, and report tainting.
- Highlighted unwarranted assumptions regarding the influence of individual/interviewer factors, detectability of suggested reports, and child disclosure/recantation patterns.
- Critiqued assumptions about the application of scientific findings in forensic contexts.
Conclusions:
- Several widely held beliefs about children's eyewitness testimony are unwarranted and lack empirical support.
- Awareness of these unwarranted assumptions is crucial for accurate assessment of child witness reliability in legal and forensic arenas.
- Challenging these assumptions can lead to more informed practices and decisions in child protection cases.
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