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The Believability Of Hearsay Testimony Involving Child Witnesses: Effects Of Age And Format, Beverly J. Smith

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Open court testimony poses difficulty for child witnesses required to face the defendant. Certain laws allow hearsay testimony to replace the alleged child victim's testimony. This study examines the relationship of the child's age to the relative believability of three hearsay testimony fonnats in a 2 (child witnesses: one 4-year-old and one 8-year-old) x 3 (hearsay conditions: interview of child, interviewer testimony in "gist" or summary form, or interviewer testimony in detailed, "verbatim" fonn) design. Transcripts were based on actual child sexual abuse interviews ( one 4 and one 8-year-old female) obtained for prior research with permission from Child Protective …