Mock Jurors' Perceptions of Child Sexual Abuse Cases: Investigating the Role of Delayed Disclosure and Relationship to the Perpetrator.

Child sexual abuse (CSA) claims brought forward weeks, months, or years after the alleged events are commonplace, yet the trial-level ramifications of delayed disclosure remain unclear. In the present study, we investigated the influence of length of delayed disclosure (1 day, 1 month, 10 months) as a function of the victim-perpetrator relationship (next-door neighbor, stepfather) on mock jurors' perceptions of a CSA case. Jury-eligible participants (N = 328) read a mock trial summary describing an alleged incident of CSA between an adult male defendant and a seven-year-old female victim.

Analyzing the scientific foundation of Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome: A reply to Lyon et al.

The issue before the New Jersey Supreme Court in the Frye hearing New Jersey v. J.L.

A retrospective approach to examining child abuse disclosure.

Background: Often times, a child's disclosure is the only forensic evidence available in child abuse cases. Therefore, understanding disclosure patterns of suspected child abuse victims plays a critical role in the forensic investigations of both child physical abuse (CPA) and child sexual abuse (CSA) cases.

Objective: To explore adults' retrospective reports about childhood disclosure of CPA and CSA.

Common Beliefs About Child Sexual Abuse and Disclosure: A College Sample.

Adults' common beliefs about child sexual abuse and disclosure were explored. Participants (N = 670) were questioned about key areas of child sexual abuse that could affect decision-making processes of jurors evaluating child sexual abuse cases. These areas included victim and perpetrator characteristics, medical and behavioral indicators of child sexual abuse, memories for the event, and disclosure of the event.

Tell Me Everything You Discussed: Children's Memory for Dyadic Conversations after a 1-Week or a 3-Week Delay.

In child abuse investigations, children are often asked to recount previous conversations related to the allegations (i.e., "conversational testimony").

Young children's ability to use two-dimensional and three-dimensional symbols to show placements of body touches and hidden objects.

In two experiments, we investigated 3- to 5-year-old children's ability to use dolls and human figure drawings as symbols to map body touches. In Experiment 1, stickers were placed on different locations of children's bodies, and the children were asked to indicate the locations of the stickers using three different symbols: a doll, a human figure drawing, and the adult researcher. Performance on the tasks increased with age, but many 5-year-olds did not attain perfect performance.

Misconceptions about childhood sexual abuse and child witnesses: Implications for psychological experts in the courtroom.

Recent changes to the law in New Zealand have led to a marked increase in experts being called to give evidence in cases of alleged child sexual abuse. Here we outline some of the common misconceptions that are held by expert witnesses in these cases and we review research on patterns of abuse disclosure and retraction, symptoms of abuse, external influences on children's reports, and experts' ability to distinguish true from false reports. We also consider what experts can say about memory that has relevance for these cases.

Peer influence on event reports among adolescents and young adults.

When two or more people witness an event together, the event report from one person can influence others' reports. In the current study we examined the role of age and motivational factors on peer influence regarding event reports in adolescents and young adults. Participants (N=249) watched a short video of a robbery then answered questions with no co-witness information or with information believed to be from a co-witness.

Expert testimony regarding child witnesses: does it sensitize jurors to forensic interview quality?

Does expert testimony on forensic interviews with children help adults distinguish between poorly conducted and well-conducted interviews? This study evaluates the effects of social framework expert testimony regarding child witnesses in a case involving allegations of child sexual abuse. A 2 (Expert Testimony: present or absent) × 3 (Child Forensic Interview Quality: poor, typical, or good) × 2 (Child's Age: 4- or 10-year-old) factorial design was used to examine whether expert testimony is prejudicial or beneficial to jurors (N = 463). The results revealed that, without expert testimony, mock jurors did not consider the forensic interview quality when reaching a verdict.

Post-event information affects children's autobiographical memory after one year.

In two experiments, we examined whether post-event information (PEI) about true and false events persisted in children's reports after approximately 1 year. In Experiment 1, 4- to 6-year-olds were given PEI and then were given memory tests 2 weeks and 15 months later. Although PEI appeared in free recall at the initial testing, it decreased substantially by the long-term test.

Multilevel modelling: Beyond the basic applications.

Over the last 30 years statistical algorithms have been developed to analyse datasets that have a hierarchical/multilevel structure. Particularly within developmental and educational psychology these techniques have become common where the sample has an obvious hierarchical structure, like pupils nested within a classroom. We describe two areas beyond the basic applications of multilevel modelling that are important to psychology: modelling the covariance structure in longitudinal designs and using generalized linear multilevel modelling as an alternative to methods from signal detection theory (SDT).

Changing the criterion for memory conformity in free recall and recognition.

People's responses during memory studies are affected by what other people say. This memory conformity effect has been shown in both free recall and recognition. Here we examine whether accurate, inaccurate, and suggested answers are affected similarly when the response criterion is varied.

Review of the contemporary literature on how children report sexual abuse to others: findings, methodological issues, and implications for forensic interviewers.

Methods used during forensic interviews with children are driven by beliefs about how children recall and report child sexual abuse (CSA) to others. Summit (1983) proposed a theory (Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome) contending that, due to the specific traumatic characteristics of CSA, children will often delay disclosing abuse or altogether fail to disclose during childhood, deny abuse when asked, and often recant abuse allegations. His theory has had a tremendous impact on the field of CSA forensic evaluations, despite its dearth of empirical support.

Autobiographical memory and suggestibility in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Two paradigms were developed to examine autobiographical memory (ABM) and suggestibility in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Children with ASD (N = 30) and typically developing chronological age-matched children (N = 38) ranging in age from 5 to 10 years were administered an ABM questionnaire. Children were asked about details of current and past personally experienced events.

Children's attention to beliefs in interactive persuasion tasks.

Whether and when children can apply their developing understanding of belief to persuasion was examined using interactive puppet tasks. Children selected 1 of 2 arguments to persuade a puppet to do something (e.g.

Examining the efficacy of truth/lie discussions in predicting and increasing the veracity of children's reports.

This study investigated whether children's ability to reason about truths and lies influenced their truth-telling behavior. Four-six-year-old children (n=118) played a game that was intended to motivate children to use deception to hide a minor transgression. Next, an interviewer gave children one of four preliminary discussions.