Do Human Line Drawings Promote Children's Accurate Reporting of Touching?

描述（由申请人提供）：人类线条画（HLD）通常由专业人士使用，他们采访儿童涉嫌性虐待;然而，关于其可行性的科学信息很少，本提案的主要目标是在认知发展框架内确定使用HLD采访被问及“触摸”的幼儿的好处和风险。本研究旨在验证以下假设：I. HLD增加了儿童提供的关于过去触摸事件的准确信息量，但没有增加错误的数量。二. HLD的产生最大的好处和最小的风险时，介绍了一个完整的口头采访。三. HLD的物理特性影响其可行性;减少空间定向问题的HLD是最有效的。四. HLD的是最有效的幼儿谁undertandandsymbolicrepresentation;将有一点增量的好处或风险超过传统的采访，没有图纸的最大的孩子。将对3-8岁的儿童进行两组研究。第一组研究包括来自社区的儿童，他们参加了我们实验室的魔术表演;在魔术表演期间，儿童在一些地方被无害地触摸。第二组研究包括到专门诊所接受生殖器和/或肛门检查的儿童。魔术表演/体检后两周，儿童将接受采访，并询问有关确实发生的事件以及没有发生的事件的问题。儿童将被随机分配到不同的面试条件：口头面试后HLD或HLD后口头面试。在一些研究中，HLD间期段的活动性会有所不同;在其他研究中，HLD的物理特征会有所不同。如果儿童向HLD提供了额外的信息（口头访谈中没有提供），并且没有提供不准确的信息，那么HLD将被认为是可行的。这些研究的结果将是重要的专业人士谁采访儿童性虐待或他们的身体一般。他们将为幼儿提供科学信息，说明一种有前途的技术的风险和益处，因为幼儿在被要求提供重要信息时往往不愿意提供，此外，还将提供最有效使用该工具的指导方针。这两组研究的结果还将涉及幼儿符号表征发展的理论问题;这一建议的独特贡献是，重点是对人体的符号表征，而不是对空间中其他物体的符号表征。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Human line drawings (HLD's) are commonly used by professionals who interview children about suspected sexual abuse; however, there is little scientific information about their feabilitity, The major objective of this proposal is to determine within a cognitive developmental framework the benefits and risks of using HLDs in interviews with young children who are questioned about "touching". Studies are designed to test the following hypotheses: I. HLD's increase the amount of accurate information but not the number of errors that children provide about a past touching event. II. HLD's produce the greatest benefits and fewest risks when introduced after a complete verbal interview. III. The physical characteristics of HLD's influence their feasibility; HLD's that decrease spatial orientation problems are most effective. IV. HLD's are most effective with young children who undertand symbolic representation; there will be little incremental benefit or risk over traditional interviews with no drawings for the oldest children. Two sets of studies will be carried out with children between the ages of 3-8 years. The first set of studies includes children from the community who participate in a magic show in our laboratory; during the magic show children are innocuously touched in a number of places. The second set of studies includes children who attend specific medical clinics and receive genital and/or anal examinations. Two weeks after the magic show/medical examination children will be interviewed and asked questions about events that did occur as well as events that did not occur. Children will be randomized to different interviewing conditions: verbal interview followed by HLD's or HLD's followed by verbal interview. In some studies the suggestiveness of the HLD segment of the intervew will vary; in other studies, the physical characteristics of the HLD's will vary. If children provide additional information with HLD's (not provided in verbal interviews) and do not provide inaccurate information, then HLD's would be considered feasible for interviewing children. The results of these studies will be important for professionals who interview children about sexual abuse or about their bodies in general. They will provide scientific information about the risks and benefits of a promising technique for young children who often do not readily provide important information when asked for it. In addition, guidelines for the most effective uses of the instrument will be provided. The results of the two sets of studies will also address theoretical issues concerning the development of symbolic representation in young children; the unique contribution of this proposal is that the focus is on symbolic representation of the human body rather than on symbolic representation of other physical objects in space.