Interviewing Preschoolers: Empirical and Theoretical Issues

9312202儿童权利委员会这项研究将探讨有关儿童在法律程序中担任证人的能力的若干问题，包括刑事审判、少年法庭听证以及家庭法院等民事诉讼程序。在这一领域存在很大争议，因为儿童往往是导致刑事指控的事件的唯一证人，他们被认定为受害者，而且他们经常处于痛苦的离婚案件中。法院做出了程序性裁决，但这些裁决的科学基础受到了质疑。这项研究将通过检测儿童的记忆对暗示的易感性程度和调查技术的有效性，为这一复杂领域的一些问题提供一些答案。这项研究不会穷尽要检查的问题或可能使用的不同方法，但它代表着心理学和法学重要领域的一个坚实的开端。该项目包括三项涉及学龄前儿童的实验研究：(1)儿童在记忆中区分真假事件的能力；(2)儿童在一系列关于压力事件的采访后对这些事件的回忆，包括使用解剖玩偶；(3)在作证期间保护儿童不受被指控的犯罪者的影响，对儿童证词的准确性和陪审员对其可信度的看法的影响。这项研究将对儿童报告的科学知识做出重要的实证和理论贡献，并对健全的法律实践和法律程序的可靠性做出重大贡献。***

9312202 CECI This research will address several questions about the capacity of children to serve as witnesses in legal proceedings, including criminal trials, juvenile court hearings, and civil proceedings such as family courts. There has been much controversy in this area because children are often the only witnesses to events resulting in criminal charges that identify them as victims, and they are frequently in the middle of bitter divorce cases. The courts have made procedural rulings but the scientific basis for these rulings has been challenged. This research will provide some answers to some questions in this complex field by examining the extent to which childrens' memories are susceptible to suggestion and the effectiveness of investigative techniques. The research will not exhaust the questions to be examined or the different methodological approaches that might be used, but it represents a solid beginning in an important area of psychology and law. The project is comprised of three experimental studies involving pre-school age children: (1) childrens' capacity to distinguish in memory between true and false events, (2) childrens' recollection of stressful events after a series of interviews about them, including the use of anatomical dolls, and (3) the effects, on the accuracy of childrens' testimony and on jurors' perceptions of their credibility, of shielding children from the alleged perpetrator during testimony. This research will make an important empirical and theoretical contribution to scientific knowledge about childrens' reports, and a significant contribution to sound legal practice and the reliability of legal processes. ***