Is the cart pushing the horse? the effects of child characteristics on children's and adults' interview behaviours

Abstract

In the current study we examine the influence of child individual differences on children's and adults' behaviours in unstructured forensic interviews. Thirty-eight interviews conducted by actual forensic interviewers with 3-to 7-year-old children were analysed for child reporting behaviours (assent, denial, acquiescence, accurate and inaccurate details, verbosity and cooperation) and adult behaviours (leading vs. neutral questions). Consistent with our predictions, child individual differences that were visible (marked, e.g. sociability) more often predicted child and adult behaviours than those that were not as apparent (unmarked, e.g. source monitoring). In addition to direct influences of the child individual differences on child behaviours, for some variables the influence of the child individual difference was mediated by differential responses by an interviewer (i.e. indirect effects) which then, in turn, influence the child. The ability to examine indirect influences by using unstructured interviews is emphasized.

The relationships between child and forensic interviewer behaviours and individual differences in interviews about a medical examination

“…The current study sought to replicate previous results conducted in other comparable studies (e.g., Gilstrap & Ceci, 2005;Gilstrap & Papierno, 2004) with a new sample.…”

“…Some studies have found that children with higher IQ scores are less suggestible (Danielsdottir, Sigurgeirsdottir, Einarsdottir, & Haraldsson, 1993;McFarlane, Powell, & Dudgeon, 2002;Pollard et al, 2004, although see discussion of range issues; Young, Powell, & Dudgeon, 2003), produce more details during general recall (Roebers & Schneider, 2001), and behave more co-operatively in interviews (Gilstrap & Papierno, 2004). Others have found no relationship between intelligence and suggestibility (Bruck, Ceci, Francoeur, & Barr, 1995;Roebers & Schneider, 2001).…”

“…In particular, we expected children's social competence to predict more assents with details (Gilstrap & Papierno, 2004), and their vocabulary capabilities to predict less denial (Roebers & Schneider, 2001). In the present paper, we employed mediation modelling to examine the role of individual differences on children's reporting behaviour when taking part in a dyadic interaction.…”

“…For example, researchers can examine the effect of children's individual differences on interviewers' questioning behaviour. To examine the effect of children's individual differences in an unstructured interaction between interviewer and child, Gilstrap and Papierno (2004) conducted mediation analyses of several child individual difference measures on adults' and children's interview behaviours. At least two implications of relevance to the present paper were found.…”

Interviewing techniques and follow-up questions in child sexual abuse interviews

“…Indeed, Gilstrap and Papierno (2004) found that interviewers posed more leading questions to shy and withdrawn children than to socially competent ones. Following this line of argument, the child providing new relevant information might be expected to influence the interviewers' interviewing style in a positive way, decreasing the use of focused and, in particular, suggestive questions-particularly since interviewers are recommended to follow-up information by the children as much as possible by means of open-ended questions or encouragement to continue (e.g., Poole & Lamb, 1998;Wilson & Powell, 2001).…”