Drawing the answers: Sketching to support free and probed recall by child witnesses and victims with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Date
2016
Journal Title
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Volume Title
Publisher
Autism: International Journal of Research and Practice
Abstract
The success of witness interviews in the criminal justice system depends on the
accuracy of information obtained, which is a function of both amount and quality of
information. Attempts to enhance witness retrieval such as mental reinstatement of context
have been designed with typically developed adults in mind. In this paper, the relative
benefits of mental and sketch reinstatement mnemonics are explored with both typically
developing children and children with autism. Children watched a crime event video, and
their retrieval of event information was examined in free and probed recall phases of a
cognitive interview. As expected, typically developing children recalled more correct
information of all types than children with autism during free and probed recall phases.
Sketching during free recall was more beneficial for both groups in both phases in reducing
the amount of incorrect items, but the relative effect of sketching on enhancing retrieval
accuracy was greater for children with autism. The results indicate the benefits of choosing
retrieval mnemonics that are sensitive to the specific impairments of autistic individuals, and
suggest that retrieval accuracy during interviews can be enhanced, in some cases to the same
level as that of typically developing individuals.
Description
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Article
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Keywords
child witness, autism, drawing, cognitive interview, Sketch-RC
Citation
Mattison, M. L. A., Dando, C. J., & Ormerod, T. (2016). Drawing the answers: Sketching to support free and probed recall by child witnesses and victims with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Autism: International Journal of Research and Practice, 22(2), 181-194.