40. Question Types, Responsiveness And Self-Contradictions When Prosecutors And Defense Attorneys Question Alleged Victims Of Child Sexual Abuse, Samantha J. Andrews, Michael E. Lamb, Thomas D. Lyon
Oct 2014
40. Question Types, Responsiveness And Self-Contradictions When Prosecutors And Defense Attorneys Question Alleged Victims Of Child Sexual Abuse, Samantha J. Andrews, Michael E. Lamb, Thomas D. Lyon
Thomas D. Lyon
We examined 120 trial transcripts of 6- to 12-year-old children testifying to sexual abuse. Age and attorney role were analyzed in relation to question types, children’s responsiveness, and self-contradiction frequency. A total of 48,716 question-response pairs were identified. Attorneys used more closed-ended than open-ended prompts. Prosecutors used more invitations (3% vs. 0%), directives and option-posing prompts than defence attorneys, who used more suggestive prompts than prosecutors. Children were more unresponsive to defence attorneys than to prosecutors. Self-contradictions were identified in 95% of the cases. Defence attorneys elicited more self-contradictions than prosecutors, but nearly all prosecutors (86%) elicited at least one …
38. Social And Cognitive Factors Associated With Children's Secret-Keeping For A Parent., Heidi M. Gordon, Thomas D. Lyon, Kang Lee
Jul 2014
38. Social And Cognitive Factors Associated With Children's Secret-Keeping For A Parent., Heidi M. Gordon, Thomas D. Lyon, Kang Lee
Thomas D. Lyon
This study examined children’s secret-keeping for a parent and its relation to trust, theory of mind, secrecy endorsement, and executive functioning (EF). Children (N = 107) between 4 and 12 years of age participated in a procedure wherein parents broke a toy and asked children to promise secrecy. Responses to open-ended and direct questions were examined. Overall, secret-keeping increased with age and promising to keep the secret was related to fewer disclosures in open-ended questioning. Children who kept the secret in direct questioning exhibited greater trust and better parental ratings of EF than children who disclosed the secret. Findings highlight …
34. Disclosure Suspicion Bias And Abuse Disclosure: Comparisons Between Sexual And Physical Abuse., Elizabeth B. Rush, Thomas D. Lyon, Elizabeth C. Ahern, Jodi A. Quas
Apr 2014
34. Disclosure Suspicion Bias And Abuse Disclosure: Comparisons Between Sexual And Physical Abuse., Elizabeth B. Rush, Thomas D. Lyon, Elizabeth C. Ahern, Jodi A. Quas
Thomas D. Lyon
Prior research has found that children disclosing physical abuse appear more reticent and less consistent than children disclosing sexual abuse. Although this has been attributed to differences in reluctance, it may also be due to differences in the process by which abuse is suspected and investigated. Disclosure may play a larger role in arousing suspicions of sexual abuse, while other evidence may play a larger role in arousing suspicions of physical abuse. As a result, children who disclose physical abuse in formal investigations may be doing so for the first time, and they may be more reluctant to provide details …
9. Children's Memory For Conversations About Sexual Abuse: Legal And Psychological Implications., Thomas D. Lyon, Stacia N. Stolzenberg
Mar 2014
9. Children's Memory For Conversations About Sexual Abuse: Legal And Psychological Implications., Thomas D. Lyon, Stacia N. Stolzenberg
Thomas D. Lyon
The legal and psychological literature on children’s testimony in child sexual abuse cases has largely focused on whether children are allowed to testify, how children testify, and what happens after they do. Those concerned about false convictions have emphasized the benefits of mechanisms to exclude children’s testimony that is unreliable because of pre-trial influence or developmental immaturity1 and the utility of expert testimony on children’s suggestibility. Those concerned about false acquittals have argued for eliminating barriers to receiving children’s testimony, the benefits of setting up special devices (such as screens or closed-circuit television) for receiving testimony, and the utility of …
12. Interviewing Victims And Suspected Victims Who Are Reluctant To Talk., Irit Irit Hershkowitz, Michael E. Lamb, Thomas D. Lyon
Nov 2013
12. Interviewing Victims And Suspected Victims Who Are Reluctant To Talk., Irit Irit Hershkowitz, Michael E. Lamb, Thomas D. Lyon
Thomas D. Lyon
Most professionals know that many alleged victims do not disclose abuse when formally interviewed and that disclosure is affected by a variety of factors, among which the relationship between suspects and children appears to be especially important (see Pipe, Lamb, Orbach, & Cederborg, 2007, for reviews). Children––especially boys and preschoolers––are hesitant to report abuse by parents and guardians, particularly when sexual rather than physical abuse is suspected. For example, Pipe, Lamb, Orbach, Stewart, Sternberg, and Esplin (2007) reported that only 38% of the preschoolers interviewed disclosed sexual abuse by a parent even when the allegations were independently substantiated by corroborative …
31. How Attorneys Question Children About The Dynamics Of Sexual Abuse And Disclosure In Criminal Trials., Stacia N. Stolzenberg, Thomas D. Lyon
Sep 2013
31. How Attorneys Question Children About The Dynamics Of Sexual Abuse And Disclosure In Criminal Trials., Stacia N. Stolzenberg, Thomas D. Lyon
Thomas D. Lyon
Little is known about how the dynamics of sexual abuse and disclosure are discussed in criminal court. We examined how attorneys ask child witnesses in sexual abuse cases (N #1; 72, 6–16 years of age) about their prior conversations, both with suspects and with disclosure recipients. Prosecutors’ questions were more open-ended than defense attorneys, but most questions asked by either attorney were yes/no questions, and children tended to provide unelaborated responses. Prosecutors were more inclined to ask about children’s prior conversations with suspects than defense attorneys, but focused on the immediate abuse rather than on grooming behavior or attempts to …
29. Young Children’S Understanding That Promising Guarantees Performance: The Effects Of Age And Maltreatment., Thomas D. Lyon, Angela D. Evans
Jul 2013
29. Young Children’S Understanding That Promising Guarantees Performance: The Effects Of Age And Maltreatment., Thomas D. Lyon, Angela D. Evans
Thomas D. Lyon
Two studies, with 102 nonmaltreated 3- to 6-year-old children and 96 maltreated 4- to 7-year-old children, examined children’s understanding of the relative strengths of “I promise,” “I will,” “I might,” and “I won’t,” to determine the most age-appropriate means of eliciting a promise to tell the truth from child witnesses. Children played a game in which they chose which of 2 boxes would contain a toy after hearing story characters make conflicting statements about their intent to place a toy in each box (e.g., one character said “I will put a toy in my box” and the other character said …
16. Child Witnesses And Imagination: Lying, Hypothetical Reasoning, And Referential Ambiguity., Thomas D. Lyon
Jul 2013
16. Child Witnesses And Imagination: Lying, Hypothetical Reasoning, And Referential Ambiguity., Thomas D. Lyon
Thomas D. Lyon
Children's resistance to unpleasant hypotheticals undermines their apparent understanding of the truth and lies. Better understanding of children's developmental limitations, improved questioning, and objections to developmentally insensitive questions could improve children's performance.
27. Does Valence Matter? Effects Of Negativity On Children's Early Understanding Of Truths And Lies., Lindsay Wandrey, Jodi A. Quas, Thomas D. Lyon
Mar 2012
27. Does Valence Matter? Effects Of Negativity On Children's Early Understanding Of Truths And Lies., Lindsay Wandrey, Jodi A. Quas, Thomas D. Lyon
Thomas D. Lyon
Early deceptive behavior often involves acts of wrongdoings on the part of children. As a result, it has often been assumed, although not tested directly, that children are better at identifying lies about wrongdoing than lies about other activities. We tested this assumption in two studies. In Study 1, 67 3- to 5-year-olds viewed vignettes in which a character truthfully or falsely claimed to have committed a good or bad act. Children were biased to label claims that the character had committed a good act as the truth and claims that the character had committed a bad act as lies. …
11. Twenty-Five Years Of Interviewing Research And Practice: Dolls, Diagrams, And The Dynamics Of Abuse Disclosure., Thomas D. Lyon
Feb 2012
11. Twenty-Five Years Of Interviewing Research And Practice: Dolls, Diagrams, And The Dynamics Of Abuse Disclosure., Thomas D. Lyon
Thomas D. Lyon
A great deal of research in the past 25 years has contributed to our understanding of how best to interview children about suspected maltreatment. The disastrous failures of the highly publicized daycare abuse cases led to a flood of research, initially emphasizing the failures of conventional approaches, and more recently highlighting the potential for eliciting complete and accurate reports. If a child has disclosed abuse, and is willing to disclose again, we know what to do. Research supports the use of interview instructions, narrative practice rapport building, and the use of open ended questions to elicit and to elaborate on …
26. “How Did You Feel?”: Increasing Child Sexual Abuse Witnesses’ Production Of Evaluative Information., Thomas D. Lyon, Nicholas Scurich, Karen Choi, Sally Handmaker, Rebecca Blank
Dec 2011
26. “How Did You Feel?”: Increasing Child Sexual Abuse Witnesses’ Production Of Evaluative Information., Thomas D. Lyon, Nicholas Scurich, Karen Choi, Sally Handmaker, Rebecca Blank
Thomas D. Lyon
In child sexual abuse cases, the victim’s testimony is essential, because the victim and the perpetrator tend to be the only eyewitnesses to the crime. A potentially important component of an abuse report is the child’s subjective reactions to the abuse. Attorneys may ask suggestive questions or avoid questioning children about their reactions, assuming that children, given their immaturity and reluctance, are incapable of articulation. We hypothesized that How questions referencing reactions to abuse (e.g., “howdid you feel”) would increase the productivity of children’s descriptions of abuse reactions. Two studiescompared the extent to which children provided evaluative content, defined as …
25. Maltreated Children’S Ability To Estimate Temporal Location And Numerosity Of Placement Changes And Court Visits., Lindsay Wandrey, Thomas D. Lyon, Jodi A. Quas, William J. Friedman
Sep 2011
25. Maltreated Children’S Ability To Estimate Temporal Location And Numerosity Of Placement Changes And Court Visits., Lindsay Wandrey, Thomas D. Lyon, Jodi A. Quas, William J. Friedman
Thomas D. Lyon
Research examining children’s temporal knowledge has tended to utilize brief temporal intervals and singular, neutral events, and is not readily generalizable to legal settings in which maltreated children are asked temporal questions about salient, repeated abuse that often occurred in the distant past. To understand how well maltreated children can describe temporal location and numerosity of documented, personal experiences, we assessed 167 6- to 10-year-old maltreated children’s temporal memory for changes in their living arrangements and prior visits to court. Small percentages of children were capable of providing exact temporal location information (age, month, or season) regarding their first or …
24. Interviewing Children Versus Tossing Coins: Accurately Assessing The Diagnosticity Of Children’S Disclosures Of Abuse., Thomas D. Lyon, Elizabeth C. Ahern, Nicholas Scurich
Jul 2011
24. Interviewing Children Versus Tossing Coins: Accurately Assessing The Diagnosticity Of Children’S Disclosures Of Abuse., Thomas D. Lyon, Elizabeth C. Ahern, Nicholas Scurich
Thomas D. Lyon
We describe a Bayesian approach to evaluating children’s abuse disclosures and review research demonstrating that children’s disclosure of genital touch can be highly probative of sexual abuse, with the probative value depending on disclosure spontaneity and children’s age. We discuss how some commentators understate the probative value of children’s disclosures by: confusing the probability of abuse given disclosure with the probability of disclosure given abuse, assuming that children formally questioned about sexual abuse have a low prior probability of sexual abuse, misstating the probative value of abuse disclosure, and confusing the distinction between disclosure and nondisclosure with the dstinction between …
15. Assessing The Competency Of Child Witnesses: Best Practice Informed By Psychology And Law., Thomas D. Lyon
Jun 2011
15. Assessing The Competency Of Child Witnesses: Best Practice Informed By Psychology And Law., Thomas D. Lyon
Thomas D. Lyon
Truth-lie competency, which concerns the child's understanding of the difference between truth and lies and the importance of telling the truth, can be demonstrated by asking the child whether simple statements are the truth, and by asking the child to promise to tell the truth. Tests of children's truth-lie competency do not predict honesty, but eliciting a child's promise to tell the truth does increase honesty.
22. Young Children’S Emerging Ability To Make False Statements., Thomas D. Lyon, Elizabeth C. Ahern, Jodi A. Quas
Apr 2010
22. Young Children’S Emerging Ability To Make False Statements., Thomas D. Lyon, Elizabeth C. Ahern, Jodi A. Quas
Thomas D. Lyon
This study examined the origins of children’s ability to make consciously false statements, a necessary component of lying. Children 2 to 5 years of age were rewarded for claiming that they saw a picture of a bird when viewing pictures of fish. They were asked outcome questions (“Do you win/lose?”), recognition questions (“Do you have a bird/fish?”), and recall questions (“What do you have?”), which were hypothesized to vary in difficulty depending on the need for consciousness of falsity (less for outcome questions) and self-generation of an appropriate response (more for recall questions). The youngest children (21⁄2 to 31⁄2 years …
14. Investigative Interviewing Of The Child., Thomas D. Lyon
Feb 2010
14. Investigative Interviewing Of The Child., Thomas D. Lyon
Thomas D. Lyon
Children, if questioned in a supportive manner, are capable of providing enormous amounts of productive information in response to open-ended questions. The irony is that many direct and suggestive methods once thought necessary to overcome abused children's reluctance to disclose abuse have been found counterproductive in two ways: they minimize the number of details in true allegations at the same time that they increase the risk of false allegations.
21. Children’S Reasoning About Disclosing Adult Transgressions: Effects Of Maltreatment, Child Age, And Adult Identity., Thomas D. Lyon, Elizabeth C. Ahern, Lindsay A. Malloy, Jodi A. Quas
Feb 2010
21. Children’S Reasoning About Disclosing Adult Transgressions: Effects Of Maltreatment, Child Age, And Adult Identity., Thomas D. Lyon, Elizabeth C. Ahern, Lindsay A. Malloy, Jodi A. Quas
Thomas D. Lyon
A total of two hundred ninety-nine 4- to 9-year-old maltreated and nonmaltreated children of comparable socioeconomic status and ethnicity judged whether children should or would disclose unspecified transgressions of adults (instigators) to other adults (recipients) in scenarios varying the identity of the instigator (stranger or parent), the identity of the recipient (parent, police, or teacher), and the severity of the transgression (‘‘something really bad’’ or ‘‘something just a little bad’’). Children endorsed more disclosure against stranger than parent instigators and less disclosure to teacher than parent and police recipients. The youngest maltreated children endorsed less disclosure than nonmaltreated children, but …
13. Interviewing Children., Thomas D. Lyon
Nov 2009
13. Interviewing Children., Thomas D. Lyon
Thomas D. Lyon
There is sufficient empirical evidence and consensus to begin to build guidelines, including the interview structure, setting, interviewer demeanor, children's reluctance and suggestibility, rapport development, narrative practice, introducing the topic of abuse, avoiding concepts that confuse children, instructions to children, phrasing of questions, evidence-based strategies for eliciting details, and multiple interviews.
12. Disclosure Of Child Sexual Abuse., Thomas D. Lyon, Elizabeth C. Ahern
Oct 2009
12. Disclosure Of Child Sexual Abuse., Thomas D. Lyon, Elizabeth C. Ahern
Thomas D. Lyon
The research supports the proposition that CSA victims often delay disclosure or fail altogether to disclose abuse and that delays and nondisclosure are most common among children abused by a familiar person, especially a family member living in the child's household. The implications of the research are that inconsistencies and recantations in children's reports may be due to reluctance rather than a false allegation.
20. Maltreated And Non-Maltreated Children’S Evaluations Of Emotional Fantasy., Nathalie Carrick, Thomas D. Lyon, Jodi A. Quas
Jan 2009
20. Maltreated And Non-Maltreated Children’S Evaluations Of Emotional Fantasy., Nathalie Carrick, Thomas D. Lyon, Jodi A. Quas
Thomas D. Lyon
Objectives: The purpose of the study was to examine differences between maltreated and nonmaltreated children’s ability to differentiate emotionally evocative fantastic and real events.
Methods: Four- and 5-year-old (n = 145) maltreated and nonmaltreated children viewed images depicting positive and negative fantastic and real events and reported whether the events could occur in real life and how the images made them feel. Children also completed a measure of verbal ability.
Results: Maltreated children were more accurate than nonmaltreated children in stating that negative real events could occur, but less accurate in stating that frightening fantastic events …
Lyon, T.D., Lamb, M.E., & Myers, J.E.B. (In Press). [Legal And Psychological, Thomas D. Lyon
Dec 2008
Lyon, T.D., Lamb, M.E., & Myers, J.E.B. (In Press). [Legal And Psychological, Thomas D. Lyon
Thomas D. Lyon
No abstract provided.
10. Witnesses, Children As Legal., Thomas D. Lyon
Dec 2008
10. Witnesses, Children As Legal., Thomas D. Lyon
Thomas D. Lyon
Child witnesses present challenges for both law and psychology. The question is how to elicit statements from children without sacrificing the truth, the rights of those against whom the child is testifying, and the welfare of the child.
11. Abuse Disclosure: What Adults Can Tell., Thomas D. Lyon
Dec 2008
11. Abuse Disclosure: What Adults Can Tell., Thomas D. Lyon
Thomas D. Lyon
This book chapter reviews 14 retrospective surveys inquiring into respondent’s child abuse experiences and whether they ever disclosed abuse as children. I discuss the advantages of retrospective surveys (representativeness, reduced likelihood of false allegations, reduced suspicion bias). However, I also emphasize the likelihood of survey reluctance, and explain how this biases upwards estimates of abuse victims’ prior disclosure. If respondents who previously disclosed abuse are more likely to acknowledge abuse to a surveyor than respondents who never previously disclosed abuse, respondents who acknowledge abuse are disproportionately likely to be those who have previously disclosed. Difficulties notwithstanding, the research supports the …
9. Authors’ Response To Vieth, Thomas D. Lyon
Dec 2008
9. Authors’ Response To Vieth, Thomas D. Lyon
Thomas D. Lyon
In 2007, Lamb, Orbach, Hershkowitz, Esplin, and Horowitz published in Child Abuse & Neglect a review of empirical research on the National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD) Investigative Interview Protocol in which they provided extensive research supporting the conclusion that the NICHD Protocol “comprises a useful and usable set of guidelines that allow trained interviewers to conduct investigative interviews that hew more closely than they otherwise would to universally endorsed professional guidelines” (p. 1212).
19. Young Children’S Competency To Take The Oath: Effects Of Task, Maltreatment, And Age., Thomas D. Lyon, Nathalie Carrick, Jodi A. Quas
Dec 2008
19. Young Children’S Competency To Take The Oath: Effects Of Task, Maltreatment, And Age., Thomas D. Lyon, Nathalie Carrick, Jodi A. Quas
Thomas D. Lyon
This study examined maltreated and non-maltreated children’s (N = 183) emerging understanding of ‘‘truth’’ and ‘‘lie,’’ terms about which they are quizzed to qualify as competent to testify. Four- to six-year-old children were asked to accept or reject true and false (T/F) statements, label T/F statements as the ‘‘truth’’ or ‘‘a lie,’’ label T/F statements as ‘‘good’’ or ‘‘bad,’’ and label ‘‘truth’’ and ‘‘lie’’ as ‘‘good’’ or ‘‘bad.’’ The youngest children were at ceiling in accepting/rejecting T/F statements. The labeling tasks revealed improvement with age and children performed similarly across the tasks. Most children were better able to evaluate ‘‘truth’’ …
4. Lyon, T. D. (2007). Interviewing Children: Getting More With Less. [Powerpoint Notes]. Professionals Who Interview Children Can Obtain A Free Copy Of The Dvd From Lcoleman@Law.Usc.Edu., Thomas D. Lyon
Dec 2008
4. Lyon, T. D. (2007). Interviewing Children: Getting More With Less. [Powerpoint Notes]. Professionals Who Interview Children Can Obtain A Free Copy Of The Dvd From Lcoleman@Law.Usc.Edu., Thomas D. Lyon
Thomas D. Lyon
No abstract provided.
18. Complex Questions Asked By Defense Lawyers But Not Prosecutors Predicts Convictions In Child Abuse Trials., Angela D. Evans, Kang Lee, Thomas D. Lyon
Jul 2008
18. Complex Questions Asked By Defense Lawyers But Not Prosecutors Predicts Convictions In Child Abuse Trials., Angela D. Evans, Kang Lee, Thomas D. Lyon
Thomas D. Lyon
Attorneys’ language has been found to influence the accuracy of a child’s testimony, with defense attorneys asking more complex questions than the prosecution (Zajac & Hayne, J. Exp Psychol Appl 9:187–195, 2003; Zajac et al. Psychiatr Psychol Law, 10:199–209, 2003). These complex questions may be used as a strategy to influence the jury’s perceived accuracy of child witnesses. However, we currently do not know whether the complexity of attorney’s questions predict the trial outcome. The present study assesses whether the complexity of questions is related to the trial outcome in 46 child sexual abuse court transcripts using an automated linguistic …
17. Maltreated Children’S Understanding Of And Emotional Reactions To Dependency Court Involvement., Jodi A. Quas, Allison R. Wallin, Briana Horwitz, Thomas D. Lyon
Mar 2008
17. Maltreated Children’S Understanding Of And Emotional Reactions To Dependency Court Involvement., Jodi A. Quas, Allison R. Wallin, Briana Horwitz, Thomas D. Lyon
Thomas D. Lyon
Little is known about the extent to which maltreated children understand what is happening during their participation in court proceedings, despite large numbers of children coming into contact with the legal system as victims of maltreatment. In the present study, maltreated 4- to 15-year-olds were interviewed about their understanding of dependency court on the day of their scheduled court visit. Their feelings about attending their hearings were also assessed, and after their hearing, their understanding of the decisions was examined. Age-related improvements in children’s understanding emerged. Also, children who were more knowledgeable about the legal system were less distressed about …
16. Coaching, Truth Induction, And Young Maltreated Children’S False Allegations And False Denials., Thomas D. Lyon, Lindsay C. Malloy, Jodi A. Quas, Victoria A. Talwar
Feb 2008
16. Coaching, Truth Induction, And Young Maltreated Children’S False Allegations And False Denials., Thomas D. Lyon, Lindsay C. Malloy, Jodi A. Quas, Victoria A. Talwar
Thomas D. Lyon
This study examined the effects of coaching (encouragement and rehearsal of false reports) and truth induction (a child-friendly version of the oath or general reassurance about the consequences of disclosure) on 4- to 7-year-old maltreated children’s reports (N 5 198). Children were questioned using free recall, repeated yes – no questions, and highly suggestive suppositional questions. Coaching impaired children’s accuracy. For free-recall and repeated yes – no questions, the oath exhibited some positive effects, but this effect diminished in the face of highly suggestive questions. Reassurance had few positive effects and no ill effects. Neither age nor understanding of the …
8. The Supreme Court, Hearsay, And Crawford: Implications For Child Interviewers., Thomas D. Lyon
Dec 2007
8. The Supreme Court, Hearsay, And Crawford: Implications For Child Interviewers., Thomas D. Lyon
Thomas D. Lyon
We are entering the golden age of child interviewing. After years of research emphasizing how children's statements may be corrupted by coercive questioning practices, a number of researchers have shifted their focus toward finding means of increasing the accuracy and completeness of children's reports. Interviewers can now refer to a body of research identifYing good interview practice (Lamb, Hershkowitz, Orbach, & Esplin, 2008).
