Verbal, Visual, and Intermediary Support for Child Witnesses with Autism During Investigative Interviews

Henry, Lucy A.; Crane, Laura; Nash, Gilly; Hobson, Zoë; Kirke-Smith, Mimi; Wilcock, Rachel

doi:10.1007/s10803-017-3142-0

Cited by 35 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 44 publications

(76 reference statements)

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“…However, the findings also emphasise that children on the autism spectrum may need more support (e.g. more open-ended prompts or possibly more comprehensive investigative interviews, see Henry et al, 2017) to provide their best evidence.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Do measures of memory, language, and attention predict eyewitness memory in children with and without autism?

Henry

Messer

Wilcock

et al. 2017

Autism & Developmental Language Impairments

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Background and aims: There are few investigations of the relationship between cognitive abilities (memory, language, and attention) and children's eyewitness performance in typically developing children, and even fewer in children on the autism spectrum. Such investigations are important to identify key cognitive processes underlying eyewitness recall, and assess how predictive such measures are compared to intelligence, diagnostic group status (autism or typically developing) and age. Methods: A total of 272 children (162 boys, 110 girls) of age 76 months to 142 months (M ¼ 105 months) took part in this investigation: 71 children with autism and 201 children with typical development. The children saw a staged event involving a minor mock crime and were asked about what they had witnessed in an immediate Brief Interview. This focused on free recall, included a small number of open-ended questions, and was designed to resemble an initial evidence gathering statement taken by police officers arriving at a crime scene. Children were also given standardised tests of intelligence, memory, language, and attention. Results & conclusions: Despite the autism group recalling significantly fewer items of correct information than the typically developing group at Brief Interview, both groups were equally accurate in their recall: 89% of details recalled by the typically developing group and 87% of the details recalled by the autism group were correct. To explore the relationship between Brief Interview performance and the cognitive variables, alongside age, diagnostic group status and non-verbal intelligence quotient, multiple hierarchical regression analyses were conducted, with Brief Interview performance as the dependant variable. Age and diagnostic group status were significant predictors of correct recall, whereas non-verbal intelligence was less important. After age, non-verbal intelligence, and diagnostic group status had been accounted for, the only cognitive variables that were significant predictors of Brief Interview performance were measures of memory (specifically, memory for faces and memory for stories). There was little evidence of there being differences between the autism and typically developing groups in the way the cognitive variables predicted the Brief Interview. Implications: The findings provide reassurance that age -the most straightforward information to which all relevant criminal justice professionals have access -provides a helpful indication of eyewitness performance. The accuracy of prediction can be improved by knowing the child's diagnostic status (i.e. whether the child is on the autism spectrum), and further still by using more specific assessments (namely memory for faces and memory for stories), possibly via the input of a trained professional. Importantly, the findings also confirm that whilst children with autism may recall less information than typically developing children, the information they do recall is just as accurate.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Do measures of memory, language, and attention predict eyewitness memory in children with and without autism?

Henry

Messer

Wilcock

et al. 2017

Autism & Developmental Language Impairments

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In other studies, researchers have assessed children's or adult's memories twice, using delays that ranged from immediately and a few hours or days after the event (Gaigg & Bowler, ; Henry, Crane, et al, ; Maras et al, ; North, Russell, & Gudjonsson, ) to 8 and 12 days after the event (Bruck, London, Landa, & Goodman, ). These studies, however, have not examined changes in the amount and accuracy of information autistic children reported about the experienced or witnessed events in the two interviews.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most eyewitness studies suggests that, after short delays, children and adults with ASD tend to recall less information than TD peers (Bruck et al, ; Henry, Messer, et al, ; Mattison et al, ; Mattison, Dando, & Ormerod, ; McCrory et al, ; Millward et al, ). However, various studies have also reported that autistic individuals can provide as much correct information about an event as TD peers, especially when appropriate support is given at retrieval (Henry, Crane, et al, ; Maras et al, ; Maras & Bowler, ). With regard to the accuracy of the information recalled soon after an event, the research findings are also not consistent, with some suggesting that individuals with ASD are less accurate than non‐ASD peers (e.g., Bruck et al, ; Maras & Bowler, , , ), whereas others have found that they are just as accurate (e.g., Henry, Crane, et al, ; Henry, Messer, et al, ; Maras et al, ; Maras et al, ; Maras & Bowler, ; McCrory et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, various studies have also reported that autistic individuals can provide as much correct information about an event as TD peers, especially when appropriate support is given at retrieval (Henry, Crane, et al, ; Maras et al, ; Maras & Bowler, ). With regard to the accuracy of the information recalled soon after an event, the research findings are also not consistent, with some suggesting that individuals with ASD are less accurate than non‐ASD peers (e.g., Bruck et al, ; Maras & Bowler, , , ), whereas others have found that they are just as accurate (e.g., Henry, Crane, et al, ; Henry, Messer, et al, ; Maras et al, ; Maras et al, ; Maras & Bowler, ; McCrory et al, ). Still, other researchers have reported that specific interview techniques can help autistic children be as accurate as non‐ASD peers (Mattison et al, , ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, the relevant studies conducted so far have assessed the episodic memory of children with ASD shortly after the event was experienced using a variety of methods, and none has examined changes in their recall over time. Some assessed the overall completeness of the children's recall, using a checklist of relevant event features such as actions or descriptions of items and people that were present (e.g., Bruck et al, ; Mattison et al, , ; Millward et al, ); others counted the number of unique units of information or narrative details (e.g., Henry, Crane, et al, ; Henry, Messer, et al, ), whether or not they were accurate. These coding procedures represent complementary ways of measuring children's recall.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of delay on episodic memory retrieval by children with autism spectrum disorder

Almeida

Lamb

Weisblatt

2019

Applied Cognitive Psychology

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Twenty-seven 6-to 15-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 32 typically developing (TD) children were questioned about their participation in a set of activities after a 2-week delay and again after a 2-month delay using a best practice interview protocol. Interviews were coded for completeness with respect to the gist of the event, the number of narrative details provided, and accuracy. Results indicated that children with ASD did not differ from TD peers on any dimensions of memory after both delays. Specifically, both groups of children provided equivalently complete accounts on both occasions. However, children in both groups provided significantly fewer narrative details about the event in the second interview, and the accuracy rates were lower. The findings indicate that, like TD children, children with ASD can provide meaningful and reliable testimony about an event they personally experienced, but several aspects of their memory reports deteriorate over time.

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Supporting child witnesses during identification lineups: Exploring the effectiveness of registered intermediaries

Wilcock

Crane

Hobson

et al. 2018

Applied Cognitive Psychology

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SummaryPerformance at identification lineup was assessed in eighty‐five 6‐ to 11‐year‐old typically developing children. Children viewed a live staged event involving 2 male actors, and were asked to identify the perpetrators from 2 separate lineups (one perpetrator‐present lineup and one perpetrator‐absent lineup). Half the children took part in lineups adapted by a registered intermediary (an impartial, trained professional who facilitates understanding and communication between vulnerable witnesses and members of the justice system), and half took part in “best‐practice” lineups, according to the current guidance for eyewitness identification in England and Wales. Children receiving assistance from a registered intermediary (relative to children who received best‐practice lineups) were more accurate in their identifications for perpetrator‐present lineups, and there was some evidence that they were also more accurate for perpetrator‐absent lineups. This provides the first empirical evidence for the effectiveness of registered intermediary support during identification lineups.

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Verbal, Visual, and Intermediary Support for Child Witnesses with Autism During Investigative Interviews

Cited by 35 publications

References 44 publications

Do measures of memory, language, and attention predict eyewitness memory in children with and without autism?

Do measures of memory, language, and attention predict eyewitness memory in children with and without autism?

Effects of delay on episodic memory retrieval by children with autism spectrum disorder

Supporting child witnesses during identification lineups: Exploring the effectiveness of registered intermediaries

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