Historically, children were considered incompetent courtroom witnesses. However, legal barriers that once prevented children from offering courtroom testimony have been largely removed. In recent decades, police agencies have been flooded with reports of child maltreatment. In response to the increasing presence of children in forensic settings, researchers have begun to examine the efficacy of methods used to interview children. The purpose of this article is to review recent research on interviewing children. Both interview practices that appear effective in eliciting accurate testimony and practices that have been shown to produce erroneous testimony from children are discussed. Implications for police practices and policy are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Ainsworth, P. B. (1995). Psychology and policing in a changing world. New York: John Wiley.
2.
Aldridge, J. , & Cameron, S. (1999). Interviewing child witnesses: Questioning techniques and the role of training. Applied Developmental Science, 3, 136-147.
3.
Aldridge, M. , & Wood, J. (1997). Talking about feelings: Young children's ability to express emotions. Child Abuse & Neglect, 21, 1221-1233.
4.
Beeghly, M. , & Cicchetti, D. (1994). Child maltreatment, attachment and the self-system: Emergence of an internal state lexicon in toddlers at high social risk. Development and Psychopathology, 6, 5-30.
5.
Bradley, A. R. , & Wood, J. M. (1996). How do children tell? The disclosure process in child sexual abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 9, 881-891.
6.
Brennan, M. , & Brennan, R. E. (1988). Strange language: Child victims under cross examination (3rd ed.). Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia: Riverina Literacy Centre.
7.
Bruck, M. , & Ceci, S. J. (1996). Issues in the scientific validation of interviews with young children. Comment on “Interviewing young children about body touch and handling.”Monograph of the Society for Research in Child Development, 61 (4-5, Serial No. 248).
8.
Bruck, M. , & Ceci, S. J. (1999). The suggestibility of children's memory. Annual Review of Psychology, 50, 419-439.
9.
Bruck, M. , Ceci, S. J., & Francoeur, E. (2000). Children's use of anatomically detailed dolls to report genital touching in a medical examination: Developmental and gender comparisons. Journal of Experimental Psychology—Applied, 6, 74-83.
10.
Bruck, M. , Hembrooke, H., & Ceci, S. J. (1997). Children's reports of pleasant and unpleasant events. In J. D. Read & D. S. Lindsay (Eds.), Recollections of trauma: Scientific evidence and clinical practice (pp. 199-213). New York: Plenum.
11.
Bruck, M. , Melnyk, L., & Ceci, S.J. (2000). Draw it again Sam: The effect of drawing on children's suggestibility and source monitoring ability. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 77, 169-196.
12.
Buros, O. K. (1989). The tenth mental measurements yearbook. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
13.
Cassel, W.S. , & Bjorklund, D.F. (1995). Developmental patterns of eyewitness memory and suggestibility: An ecologically based short-term longitudinal study. Law and Human Behavior, 19, 507-532.
14.
Ceci, S. J. , & Bruck, M. (1993). Suggestibility of the child witness: A historical review and synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 113, 403-439.
15.
Ceci, S. J. , & Bruck, M. (1995). Jeopardy in the courtroom: A scientific analysis of children's testimony. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
16.
Ceci, S. J. , Bruck, M., & Battin, D. B. (2000). The suggestibility of children's testimony. In D. F. Bjorkland (Ed.), False-memory creation in children and adults: Theory, research, and implications (pp. 169-201). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
17.
Ceci, S. J. , Huffman, M.L.C., Smith, E., & Loftus, E. F. (1994). Repeatedly thinking about a nonevent: Source misattributions among preschoolers. Consciousness and Cognition, 3, 388-407.
18.
Ceci, S. J. , Ross, D. F., & Toglia, M. P. (1987). Suggestibility of children's memory: Psycholegal implications. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 116, 38-49.
19.
Chess, S. , & Hassibi, M. (1986). Principles and practice of child psychiatry (2nd ed.). New York: Plenum.
20.
Cohen, R. L. , & Harnick, M. A. (1980). The susceptibility of child witnesses to suggestion. Law and Human Behavior, 4, 571-577.
21.
Conte, J. R. , Sorenson, E., Fogarty, L., & Rosa, J. D. (1991). Evaluating children's reports of sexual abuse: Results from a survey of professionals. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 61, 428-437.
22.
Davis, G. M. , Tarrant, A., & Flin, R. (1989). Close encounters of a witness kind: Children's memory for a simulated health inspection. British Journal of Psychology, 80, 415-429.
23.
DeLoache, J. S. (1995). Early understanding and use of symbols: The model model. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 4, 109-113.
24.
DeLoache, J. S. , & Marzolf, D. P. (1995). The use of dolls to interview young children: Issues of symbolic representation. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 60, 155-173.
25.
Dent, H.R. , & Stephenson, G.M. (1979). An experimental study of the effectiveness of different techniques of questioning child witnesses. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 18, 41-51.
26.
Everson, M. , & Boat, B. (1990). Sexualize doll play among young children: Implications for the use of anatomical dolls in sexual abuse evaluations. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 29, 736-742.
27.
Finkelhor, D. (1984). Child sexual abuse: New theory and research. New York: Free Press.
28.
Fisher, R. P. , Geiselman, R. E., Raymond, D. S., Jurkevich, L. M., & Warhaftig, M. L. (1987). Enhancing enhanced eyewitness memory: Refining the Cognitive Interview. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 15, 291-297.
29.
Fisher, R. P. , & McCauley, M. R. (1995). Information retrieval: Interviewing witnesses. In N. Brewer & C. Wilson (Eds.), Psychology and policing (pp. 81-99). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
30.
Fivush, R. , & Shukat, J. (1995). What young children recall: Issues of content, consistency and coherence of early autobiographical recall. In M. S. Zaragoza, J. R. Graham, G.C.N. Hall, R. Hirschman, & Y. S. Ben-Porath (Eds.), Memory and testimony in the child witness (pp. 5-23). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
31.
Friedman, W. J. (1991). The development of children's memory for the time of past events. Child Development, 62, 139-155.
32.
Geiselman, R. E. , & Padilla, J. (1988). Cognitive interviewing with child witnesses. Journal of Police Science and Administration, 16, 236-242.
33.
Gleason, J. B. (1977). Code switching in children's language. In E. M. Hetherington & R. D. Parke (Eds.), Contemporary readings in child psychology (pp. 138-143). New York: McGraw-Hill.
34.
Goodman, G. S. , Aman, C., & Hirschman, J. (1987). Child sexual and physical abuse: Children's testimony. In S. J. Ceci, M. P. Toglia, & D. F. Ross (Eds.), Children eyewitness memory (pp. 1-23). New York: Springer-Verlag.
35.
Goodman, G. S. , Hirschman, J. E., Hepps, D., & Rudy, L. (1991). Children's memory for stressful events. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 37, 109-158.
36.
Goodman, G.S. , & Reed, R.S. (1986). Age differences in eyewitness testimony. Law and Human Behavior, 10, 317-332.
37.
Goodman, G. S. , Rudy, L., Bottoms, B. L., & Aman, C. (1990). Children's memory and children's concerns: Issues of ecological validity in the study of children's eyewitness testimony. In R. Fivush & J. Hudson (Eds.), What young children remember and know (pp. 249-284). New York: Cambridge University Press.
38.
Hertica, M. A. (1987). Police officer interviews of sexually abused children. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 56, 12-16.
39.
Howe, M. L. , Kelland, A., Bryant-Brown, L., & Clark, S. L. (1992). Measuring the development of children's amnesia and hyperamnesia. In M. L. Howe, C. J. Brainard, & V. F. Reyna (Eds.), Development of long-term retention (pp. 56-102). New York: Springer-Verlag.
40.
Huffman, M. L. , Warren, A. R., & Larson, S. M. (1999). Discussing truth and lies in interviews with children: Whether, when, and how?Applied Developmental Science, 3, 6-15.
41.
Hughes, M. , & Grieve, R. (1980). On asking children bizarre questions. First Language, 1, 149-160.
42.
Kendall-Tackett, K. A. , & Watson, M. W. (1992). Use of anatomical dolls by Boston-area professionals. Child Abuse and Neglect, 16, 423-428.
43.
Koocher, G. P. , Goodman, G. S., White, C. S., Friedrich, W. N., Sivan, A. B., & Reynolds, C. R. (1995). Psychological science and the use of anatomically detailed dolls in child sexual abuse assessments. Psychological Bulletin, 118, 199-222.
44.
Lamb, M.E. (1994). The investigation of child sexual abuse: An interdisciplinary consensus statement. Child Abuse & Neglect, 18, 1021-1028.
45.
London, K. , & Nunez, N. (2001). Examining the efficacy of various truth/lie discussions in increasing the veracity of children's reports. Manuscript in preparation.
46.
McGough, L. S. (1994). Child witnesses: Fragile voices in the American legal system. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
47.
McGough, L. S. (1995). For the record: Videotaping investigative interviews. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 1, 370-386.
48.
Moston, S. (1990). How children interpret and respond to questions: Situational sources of suggestibility in eyewitness interviews. Social Behaviour, 5, 155-167.
49.
Ornstein, P. A. , Gordon, B. N., & Larus, D. M. (1992). Children's memory for a personally experienced event: Implications for testimony. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 6, 49-60.
50.
Pipe, M. E. , & Wilson, J. C. (1994). Cues and secrets: Influences on children's event reports. Developmental Psychology, 30, 515-525.
51.
Poole, D. A. , & Lamb, M. E. (1998). Investigative interviews of children: A guide for helping professionals. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
52.
Poole, D. A. , & Lindsay, D. S. (1995). Interviewing preschoolers: Effects of nonsuggestive techniques, parental coaching, and leading questions on reports of nonexperienced events. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 60, 129-154.
53.
Poole, D. A. , & White, L. T. (1991). Effects of question repetition on the eyewitness testimony of children and adults. Developmental Psychology, 27, 975-986.
54.
Raskin, D. C. , & Yuille, J. C. (1989). Problems in evaluating interviews of children in sexual abuse cases. In S. J. Ceci, D. F. Ross, & M. P. Toglia (Eds.), Perspectives on children's testimony (pp. 184-207). New York: Springer-Verlag.
55.
Realmuto, G. , Jensen, J., & Wescoe, S. (1990). Specificity and sensitivity of sexually anatomically correct dolls in substantiating abuse: A pilot study. Journal of the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 29, 743-746.
56.
Saywitz, K. J. , Geiselman, R. E., & Bornstein, G. K. (1992). Effects of cognitive interviewing and practice on children's recall performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77, 744-756.
57.
State v. Michaels, 625 A2d 489 (N.J. App. 1993), aff'd, 1994 WL 278424 (N.J. Spu. 1994).
58.
Sternberg, K. J. , Lamb, M. E., Hershkowitz, I., Yudilevitch, L., Orbach, Y., Esplin, P. W., & Hovav, M. (1997). Effects of introductory style on children's abilities to describe experiences of sexual abuse. Child Abuse and Neglect, 21, 1133-1146.
59.
Taylor, M. , Esbensen, B. M., & Bennett, R. T. (1994). Children's understanding of knowledge acquisition: The tendency for children to report they have always known what they have just learned. Child Development, 65, 1581-1604.
60.
Toglia, M. P. , Ross, D. F., Ceci, S. J., & Hembrooke, H. (1992). The suggestibility of children's memory: A social-psychological and cognitive interpretation. In M. L. Howe, C. J. Brainard, & V. F. Reyna (Eds.), Development of long-term memory (pp. 217-241). New York: Springer-Verlag.
61.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect . (1995). Child Maltreatment 1993: Reports from the states to the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
62.
Walker, A. G. (1994). Handbook on questioning children: A linguistic perspective. Washington, DC: American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law.
63.
Walker, N. E. , Lunning, S. M., & Eilts, J. L. (1996, June). Do children respond accurately to forced choice questions? Yes or no. Paper presented at Recollections of Trauma: Scientific Research and Clinical Practice, NATO Advanced Study Institute, Port de Bourgenay, France.
64.
Walker-Perry, N. , & Wrightsman, L. S. (1991). The child witness: Legal issues and dilemmas. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
65.
Warren, A. , Hulse-Trotter, K., & Tubbs, E. C. (1991). Inducing resistance to suggestibility in children. Law and Human Behavior, 15, 273-285.
66.
Warren, A. R. (1992, May). Interviewing child witnesses: Some linguistic considerations. Paper presented at The Child Witness in Context, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Advanced Study Institute, Lucca, Italy.
67.
Warren, A. R. , & McCloskey, L. A. (1997). Language in social contexts. In J. B. Gleason (Ed.), The development of language (4th ed., pp. 210-258). New York: Allyn & Bacon.
68.
Warren, A. R. , Woodall, C. E., Hunt, J. S., & Perry, N. W. (1996). “It sounds good in theory, but...” Do investigative interviewers follow guidelines based on memory research?Child Maltreatment, 1, 231-245.
69.
Wilson, J. C. , & Pipe, M. E. (1995). Children's disclosure of secrets: Implications for interviewing. In G. Davis, S. Lloyd-Bostock, M. McMurran, & C. Wilson (Eds.), Psychology, law, and criminal justice: International developments in research and practice (pp. 170-180). Berlin, Germany: Walter DeGruyter.
70.
Yuille, J. C. , Hunter, R., Jeffe, R., & Zaparniuk, J. (1993). Interviewing children in sexual abuse cases. In G. S. Goodman & B. L. Bottoms (Eds.), Child victims, child witnesses: Understanding and improving testimony (pp. 95-115). New York: Guildford.
