Young children’s competency to take the oath: Effects of task, maltreatment, and age

dc.contributor.authorLyon, T., Carrick, N., & Quas, J. A.
dc.date.accessioned2018-05-16T20:03:19Z
dc.date.available2018-05-16T20:03:19Z
dc.date.issued2011
dc.description.abstractThis study examined maltreated and non-maltreated children’s (N = 183) emerging understanding of ‘‘truth’’ and ‘‘lie,’’ terms about which they are quizzed to qualify as competent to testify. Four- to six-year-old children were asked to accept or reject true and false (T/F) statements, label T/F statements as the ‘‘truth’’ or ‘‘a lie,’’ label T/F statements as ‘‘good’’ or ‘‘bad,’’ and label ‘‘truth’’ and ‘‘lie’’ as ‘‘good’’ or ‘‘bad.’’ The youngest children were at ceiling in accepting/rejecting T/F statements. The labeling tasks revealed improvement with age and children performed similarly across the tasks. Most children were better able to evaluate ‘‘truth’’ than ‘‘lie.’’ Maltreated children exhibited somewhat different response patterns, suggesting greater sensitivity to the immorality of lying.en_US
dc.identifier.citationLyon, T. D. (2011). Assessing the competency of child witnesses: Best practice informed by psychology and law. In M. E. Lamb, D. La Rooy, L. C. Malloy, & C. Katz (Eds.), Children’s Testimony: A Handbook of Psychological Research and Forensic Practice (pp. 69-85). Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://works.bepress.com.calio.idm.oclc.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1061&context=thomaslyon
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11212/3842
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherWiley-Blackwellen_US
dc.subjectforensic interviewen_US
dc.subjecttruth-tellingen_US
dc.subjectchild maltreatmenten_US
dc.titleYoung children’s competency to take the oath: Effects of task, maltreatment, and ageen_US
dc.typeBook chapteren_US

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