Questioning children and adults for legal purposes: insights from a naturalistic data-set
Date
2018-06-29
Authors
Mahoney, Catherine E.
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Abstract
This exploratory study examined the manner in which variations in questioning
procedures influenced the amount and accuracy of information that children and
young adults recalled about a video-taped incident. Preschoolers, 8 to 10-year-olds
and young adults were assigned to one of three conditions. In the control condition,
one interviewer had complete knowledge of the incident and used a standard
question protocol to obtain free recall. To examine how prior knowledge may
predispose interviewers to use leading questions, 60 interviewers in the informed
condition had limited information about the incident and 60 interviewers in the blind
condition had no information about the incident and both groups were free to use
their own questioning strategies. The two major dependent measures were
spontaneous material (elicited in response to all question types) and yes/no
responses to closed questions.
Two main hypotheses and several additional questions were examined. The
first hypothesis predicted that the amount of spontaneous recall in the blind and
informed conditions would be higher but the accuracy lower, when compared to
material elicited in the free recall condition across age-groups. Although results
showed a significant increase in recall amount, there was a differential effect on
accuracy. For the two younger age-groups accuracy decreased but for the adult
sample, accuracy scores remained stable across the three conditions. There were
clear age-related differences in the amount of material freely recalled in the control
condition and no differences in accuracy. In the blind and informed conditions, there
were significant age-related differences in both the amount and accuracy of
spontaneous recall material.
The second hypothesis predicted that closed questions which are leading (in
the correct sense) would elicit more accurate responses than those that are
misleading. Results supported this hypothesis for the two older samples but there
was no difference between the two accuracy scores for the youngest samples. The
two older age-groups scored significantly higher than the pre-school sample for accuracy based on leading questions, but there were no age-related differences in
response to misleading questions. The blind and informed conditions did not differ
in the accuracy of spontaneous recall or closed question material.
Accuracy scores were adjusted by subtracting errors associated with particular
features in the questioning context and the subject’s developmental status. In
comparing the original and adjusted accuracy scores, age-related differences for
spontaneous recall were minimal and disappeared for accuracy based on closed
questions. In addition to language and comprehension errors, the error type which
most clearly distinguished the pre-school from the older age-groups were addition
errors classed as incorrect inferences and fabrications. In all cases, these error types
were associated with one or more features of the questioning context.
The sequential nature of the question/response discourse was highlighted in
the proportion of error which was extended over a sequence of turns and the
proportion of interviews containing one or more e>ror retractions. For both
measures, the two younger groups scored higher that the young adult group. Age related
differences were also found in the amount and accuracy of material in the
interviewer reports as well as in the components of report error.
The results include a detailed outline of the manner in which fabricated
material emerged, the circumstances under which it was retracted and the degree to
which it appeared in the interviewer reports. Also reviewed are qualitative features
relating to the form, content, techniques and style of questioning as well as
characteristics of young children’s language, thinking and perception.
The results are compared to previous research findings regarding age-related
differences in question/response material with specific focus on issues regarding
children’s inaccuracy, suggestibility and inability to distinguish fact from fantasy.
Productive and counter-productive questioning procedures are discussed in relation
to the demand characteristics of the interview setting, the nature of repeated
questioning and a number of related issues specific to questioning in the forensic
context. Practical application of the findings are discussed with a particular focus on
improving non-leading questioning skills in applied settings.
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Keywords
Child witnesses, Memory in children, Examination of witnesses, Child psychology, Psychology, Applied