Kulisek, Natalie Ryan2020-06-232020-06-232014Kulisek, Natalie Ryan. (2014). Effects of child age and type of detail reported on credibility of child abuse allegations. (MS thesis), University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.http://scholar.utc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1131&context=theseshttp://hdl.handle.net/11212/4771With 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-yearsold) 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. (Author Abstract)en-USchild abusedisclosurecredrevictimizationageresearchbelievabilityArticle