56. Pragmatic Failure And Referential Ambiguity When Attorneys Ask Child Witnesses “Do You Know/Remember” Questions., Angela D. Evans, Stacia N. Stolzenberg, Thomas D. Lyon
Dec 2016
56. Pragmatic Failure And Referential Ambiguity When Attorneys Ask Child Witnesses “Do You Know/Remember” Questions., Angela D. Evans, Stacia N. Stolzenberg, Thomas D. Lyon
Thomas D. Lyon
“Do you know” and “Do you remember” (DYK/R) questions explicitly ask whether one knows or remembers some information while implicitly asking for that information. This study examined how 104 4- to 9-year-old children testifying in child sexual abuse cases responded to DYK/R wh- and yes/no questions. When asked DYK/R questions containing an implicit wh- question requesting information, children often provided unelaborated “Yes” responses. Attorneys’ follow-up questions suggested that children usually misunderstood the pragmatics of the questions. When DYK/R questions contained an implicit yes/no question, unelaborated “Yes” or “No” responses could be responding to the explicit or the implicit questions resulting …
54. The Effects Of The Hypothetical Putative Confession And Negatively-Valenced Yes/No Questions On Maltreated And Non-Maltreated Children’S Disclosure Of A Minor Transgression., Stacia N. Stolzenberg, Kelly Mcwilliams, Thomas D. Lyon
Sep 2016
54. The Effects Of The Hypothetical Putative Confession And Negatively-Valenced Yes/No Questions On Maltreated And Non-Maltreated Children’S Disclosure Of A Minor Transgression., Stacia N. Stolzenberg, Kelly Mcwilliams, Thomas D. Lyon
Thomas D. Lyon
This study examined the effects of the hypothetical putative confession (telling children “What if I said that [the suspect] told me everything that happened and he wants you to tell the truth?”) and negatively-valenced yes/no questions varying in their explicitness (“Did [toy] break?” vs. “Did something bad happen to the [toy]?”) on 206 4- to 9-year-old maltreated and non-maltreated children’s reports, half of whom had experienced toy breakage and had been admonished to keep the breakage a secret. The hypothetical putative confession increased the likelihood that children disclosed breakage without increasing false reports. The yes/no questions elicited additional disclosures of …
53. Relations Between Attorney Temporal Structure And Children's Response Productivity In Cases Of Alleged Child Sexual Abuse., J. Zoe Klemfuss, Kyndra C. Cleveland, Thomas D. Lyon, Jodi A. Quas
Jul 2016
53. Relations Between Attorney Temporal Structure And Children's Response Productivity In Cases Of Alleged Child Sexual Abuse., J. Zoe Klemfuss, Kyndra C. Cleveland, Thomas D. Lyon, Jodi A. Quas
Thomas D. Lyon
Purpose. Previous research has demonstrated that attorney question format relates to child witness’ response productivity. However, little work has examined the extent to which attorneys provide temporal structure in their questions, and the effects of this structure on children’s responding. The purpose of this study was to address this gap in the literature to identify methods by which attorneys increase children’s response productivity on the stand without risking objections from opposing counsel for ‘calling for narrative answers.
Methods. In this study, we coded criminal court transcripts involving child witnesses (5–18 years) for narrative structure in attorney questions and productivity in …
52. Familial Influences On Recantation In Substantiated Child Sexual Abuse Cases., Lindsay C. Malloy, Allison P. Mugno, Jillian R. Rivard, Jodi A. Quas, Thomas D. Lyon
Apr 2016
52. Familial Influences On Recantation In Substantiated Child Sexual Abuse Cases., Lindsay C. Malloy, Allison P. Mugno, Jillian R. Rivard, Jodi A. Quas, Thomas D. Lyon
Thomas D. Lyon
The underlying reasons for recantation in children’s disclosure of child sexual abuse (CSA) have been debated in recent years. In the present study, we examined the largest sample of substantiated CSA cases involving recantations to date (n = 58 cases). We specifically matched those cases to 58 non-recanters on key variables found to predict recantation in prior research (i.e., child age, alleged parent figure perpetrator, caregiver unsupportiveness). Bivariate analyses revealed that children were less likely to recant when they were (1) initially removed from home post-disclosure, and (2) initially separated from siblings post-disclosure. Multivariate analyses revealed that children were less …
51. Maltreated Children’S Ability To Make Temporal Judgments Using A Recurring Landmark Event., Kelly Mcwilliams, Thomas D. Lyon, Jodi A. Quas
Apr 2016
51. Maltreated Children’S Ability To Make Temporal Judgments Using A Recurring Landmark Event., Kelly Mcwilliams, Thomas D. Lyon, Jodi A. Quas
Thomas D. Lyon
This study examined whether maltreated children are capable of judging the location and order of significant events with respect to a recurring landmark event. 167 6- to 10-year-old maltreated children were asked whether the current day, their last court visit, and their last change in placement were "near" their birthday and "before or after" their birthday. Children showed some understanding that the target event was "near" and "before" their birthday when their birthday was less than three months hence, but were relatively insensitive to preceding birthdays. Hence, children exhibited a prospective bias, preferentially answering with reference to a forthcoming birthday …