Memory and Testimony in the Child Witness

by Maria Zaragoza (Editor), John R. Graham (Editor), Gordon C. Nagayama Hall (Editor), Richard Hirschman (Editor), Yossef S. Ben-Porath (Editor)

Overview

The assessment and improvement of eyewitness testimony of children is the topic of this volume. The first section examines factors that contribute to the reliability and accuracy of testimony, including the effects of extended delays, repeated questioning and exposure to leading questions.

The second part describes techniques that have been developed to improve the quality of children's testimony, including interview techniques and the use of anatomically correct dolls, and explores their empirical and theoretical underpinnings. The final chapters focus on policy issues, including psychological research designed to guide legal reforms for accommodating child witnesses into the legal system.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780803955554
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	11/22/1994
Series:	Applied Psychology Series , #1
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Yossef S. Ben-Porath, Ph D, is a Professor of Psychology at Kent State University. He received his doctoral training at the University of Minnesota and has been involved extensively in MMPI research for the past 24 years. He is a co-developer of the MMPI-2-RF and co-author of test manuals and numerous books, book chapters and articles on the MMPI test. His recent book, Interpreting the MMPI-2-RF provides detailed and practical instruction for interpreting the MMPI-2-RF, the most recent version of the MMPI for adults. He is Associate Editor of Psychological Assessment, and a member of the editorial board of several psychology journals. His clinical practice involves consulting to agencies that screen candidates for public safety positions and conducting criminal court ordered forensic psychological evaluations.

Table of Contents

Introduction - Maria S Zaragoza
PART ONE: APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING CHILDREN'S EYEWITNESS MEMORY
Introduction - Sean M Lane
Content, Consistency and Coherence of Early Autobiographical Recall - Robyn Fivush and Jennifer Shukat
Tell Me Again and Again - Debra Ann Poole and Lawrence T White
Stability and Change in the Repeated Testimonies of Children and Adults
Effects of Timing and Type of Questioning on Eyewitness Accuracy and Suggestibility - Amye R Warren and Peggy Lane
How Shall a Thing be Coded? Implications of the Use of Alternative Procedures for Scoring Children's Verbal Reports - Lynne Baker-Ward et al
Aware and Unaware Uses of Memories of Postevent Suggestions - D Stephen Lindsay, Valerie Gonzales and Karen Eso
PART TWO: IMPROVING CHILDREN'S TESTIMONY
Introduction - Jennifer K Ackil
Improving Children's Testimony - Karen J Saywitz
The Question, the Answer and the Environment
Improving Eyewitness Testimony with the Cognitive Interview - Ronald P Fisher and Michelle Mc Cauley
The Use of Dolls in Interviewing Young Children - Judy S De Loache
Innovative Techniques for the Questioning of Child Witnesses Especially Those Who are Young and Those with Learning Disability - Ray Bull
PART THREE: SOCIAL POLICY IMPLICATIONS
Introduction - Karen L Chambers
The Child Witness in the Courtroom - Graham Davies and Helen Westcott
Empowerment or Protection?
Balancing the Rights of Children and Defendants - Ann E Tobey et al
Effects of Closed-Circuit Television of Children's Accuracy and Jurors' Perceptions
Children's Testimony - Rhona Flin
Psychology on Trial