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Despite the liberalization of competency requirements for child witnesses in many countries (Spencer & Flin, 1993; Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act, 1999, s. 53 [Engl.]), a substantial number of courts in the United States and other countries require that every witness take the oath or make some sort of affirmation that s/he will tell the truth (Federal Rules of Evidence 602,2001;Shrimpton, Oates, & Hayes, 1996).In order to guarantee that an oath or affirmation is understood by child witnesses, courts routinely inquire into children's understanding of the difference between the truth and lies and their obligation to tell the truth …

What do we know about children's abilities to provide eyewitness testimony? Until recently, scientific data wee surprisingly sparse.  However, beginning in the mid-1980s, the study of child victims/witnesses grew at an astounding rate; now it is a worldwide endeavor. When Melton (1981) published one of the first modern reviews of psychological research on children's testimony, only one contemporary empirical study directly dressing children's eyewitness memory was cited. Today, entire books and journal issues are devoted to research on this topic (e.g., Ceci & Bruck, 1995; Dent & Flin, 1992; Goodman, 1984; Goodman & Bottoms, 1993; Perry & Wrightsman, 1991; Poole …

American trial courts often rule on motions that children testify in court accompanied by a support· person. Unfortunately, the potential impact of providing a child witness with a support person has not been thoroughly researched.