Committee Chair

Warren, Amye

Committee Member

Ross, David F.; Clark, Amanda J.

Department

Dept. of Psychology

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

With repeated experiences, children’s reports of an event tend to contain fewer episodic, contextually embedded details and more inconsistencies. In one prior study, children who experienced a play event four times were rated by mock jurors as less accurate and less believable than children who experienced it once, although there was no difference in their actual accuracy (Connolly, Price, Lavoie, & Gordon, 2008). In the present study, 405 undergraduate students read one of four scenarios of a child sexual abuse allegation in a 2 (age: 4- or 10-years-old) by 2 (experience: single or multiple) factorial design. Overall, regardless of age, participants rated the child alleging repeated abuse as significantly less believable, honest, cognitively competent, and consistent than the child alleging a single abuse occurrence. Jurors may need education about the effects of repeated experience on children’s accounts of abuse in order to reach appropriate decisions.

Degree

M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Date

5-2014

Subject

Child witnesses; Recollection (Psychology); Sexually abused children; Interviewing in child abuse; Child abuse -- Investigations

Keyword

Credibility of child witnesses; Perceived credibility; Child sexual abuse allegations; Episodic details

Discipline

Psychology

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

x, 95 leaves

Language

English

Rights

https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

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Psychology Commons

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