ABSTRACT

Children’s non-disclosures of another’s wrongdoing, particularly in cases involving alleged maltreatment, is a notable concern among forensic professionals. The current study was designed to provide these professionals with much needed information about the efficacy of a range of interviewing strategies, namely free-recall, cognitive instructions and closed-ended questions, when children are asked to conceal the transgression of an adult. After being asked to falsely deny a theft they witnessed, children (ages 8 to 13; N = 104) were interviewed using either the cognitive instructions (n = 52) or a Standard Interview (n = 52). Two raters coded the children’s: (1) report honesty; (2) number of words used; (3) number of Transgression Details disclosed; (4) number of events recalled; (5) temporal order accuracy; and (6) number of theft disclosures made. Children produced longer testimonies with more Transgression Details, disclosures and events on the interview with the cognitive instructions, without compromising temporal order accuracy. However, there were no interview differences in overall report honesty. Overall, the free-recall reports had the most words, along with more Transgression Details, theft disclosures and events recalled. The reverse-order recall was the most effective cognitive instruction for increasing the amount of events recalled. Overall, the cognitive instructions increased the amount of information and disclosures about the theft, but they did not discourage false reporting.

摘要

儿童不披露他人的不法行为，特别是在涉及涉嫌虐待的案件中，是法医专业人士关注的一个显着问题。当前的研究旨在为这些专业人士提供急需的信息，了解当儿童被要求隐瞒成年人的违法行为时，一系列访谈策略的有效性，即自由回忆、认知指导和封闭式问题。在被要求错误地否认他们目睹的盗窃事件后，儿童（8 至 13 岁；N = 104）接受了使用认知指令（n = 52）或标准访谈（n= 52)。两名评分员对孩子的以下情况进行编码：（1）报告诚实；(2) 使用的字数；(3) 披露的违规细节数量；(4) 召回事件的数量；(5) 时序准确度；(6) 披露盗窃的次数。在不影响时间顺序准确性的情况下，儿童在认知指令的采访中制作了更长的证词，其中包含更多的违规细节、披露和事件。然而，在整体报告诚实度方面没有采访差异。总体而言，免费召回报告的字数最多，还有更多的违规细节、盗窃披露和召回事件。逆序回忆是增加回忆事件数量的最有效的认知指导。总体而言，认知指令增加了有关盗窃的信息和披露量，