Question type and its effect on children ' s maintenance and accuracy during courtroom testimony

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of question type (open-ended, prompted, reverse order and chronological order recall) on children’s ability to maintain a truth or a lie in a two-part mock-courtroom study.

Design/methodology/approach

In total, 96 children (M _age=131.00 months) between 9 and 12 years of age were asked to testify about an interaction with a research assistant the week prior. They were assigned to one of four conditions (true/false×assertion/denial).

Findings

Results indicate that question type has an influence on children’s ability to maintain their condition. Results also indicate that regardless of question type, children have difficulty recalling information sequentially.

Practical implications

Implications of the current research support the use of various question types, including increasing the cognitive load demands, when interviewing children.

Originality/value

To date, this is the first study to investigate the use of reverse order questioning in a courtroom study with children.

Citation

Saykaly, C., Crossman, A., Morris, M. and Talwar, V. (2016), "Question type and its effect on children ' s maintenance and accuracy during courtroom testimony", The Journal of Forensic Practice, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 104-117. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFP-01-2015-0010