De betrouwbaarheid van verklaringen van kinderen | Amsterdam University Press Journals Online
2004
Volume 40, Issue 2
  • ISSN: 1567-7109
  • E-ISSN: 2468-1652

Abstract

Abstract

Children’s testimonies about abusive experiences can play a pivotal role in the criminal justice system. This is especially the case when other types of evidence (such as videos, technical traces) are absent. In such cases, it is imperative that children’s testimonies accurately reflect what they have experienced. In the current article, the reliability of children’s statements is discussed. We discuss what children can remember of traumatic incidents and elaborate on how children’s false memories can be relatively easily evoked. Furthermore, we discuss how children can best be interviewed using scientifically supported interview protocols. Children’s testimonies can be decisive in legal decision-making. Hence, it is of the utmost importance that these statements are reliable.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.5117/PED2020.2.005.OTGA
2020-11-01
2024-03-28
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/15677109/40/2/05_PED2020.2_OTGA.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.5117/PED2020.2.005.OTGA&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Benia, L.R., Hauck-Filho, N., Dillenburg, M., & Stein, L.M.(2015). The NICHD investigative interview protocol: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 24(3), 259-279.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Bidrose, S., & Goodman, G.S.(2000). Testimony and evidence: A scientific case study of memory for child sexual abuse. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 14(3), 197-213.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Brainerd, C.J., Holliday, R.E., Reyna, V.F., Yang, Y., & Toglia, M.P.(2010). Developmental reversals in false memory: Effects of emotional valence and arousal. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 107, 137-154.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Brainerd, C.J., Reyna, V.F., & Ceci, S.J. (2008). Developmental reversals in false memory: A review of data and theory. Psychological Bulletin, 134(3), 343-382.
  5. Bruck, M., & Ceci, S.J.(1999). The suggestibility of children’s memory. Annual Review of Psychology, 50, 419-439.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Calado, B., Sumampouw, N., Otgaar, H., Luke, T.J., Landström, S., & London, K.(2020). A non-western daycare abuse case on children’s false memories: The Jakarta International School case. Manuscript submitted for publication.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Castel, A.D., McCabe, D.P., Roediger, H.L., & Heitman, J.L.(2007). The dark side of expertise: Domain-specific memory errors. Psychological Science, 18, 3-5.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Ceci, S.J., & Bruck, M.(1993). Suggestibility of the child witness: A historical review and synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 113, 403-439.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Frenda, S.J., Nichols, R.M., & Loftus, E.F.(2011). Current issues and advances in misinformation research. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20, 20-23.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Garven, S., Wood, J. M., Malpass, R.S., & Shaw, J.S.(1998). More than suggestion: The effect of interviewing techniques from the McMartin Preschool case. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 347-359.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Goodman-Brown, T.B., Edelstein, R.S., Goodman, G.S., Jones, D.P., & Gordon, D.S.(2003). Why children tell: A model of children’s disclosure of sexual abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 27(5), 525-540.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Hershkowitz, I., & Lamb, M.E. (in press). Allegation rates and credibility assessment in forensic interviews of alleged child abuse victims: Comparing the revised and standard NICHD protocols. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Howe, M.L., Candel, I., Otgaar, H., Malone, C., & Wimmer, M.C.(2010). Valence and the development of immediate and long-term false memory illusions. Memory, 18, 58-75.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Lamb, M.E., Hershkowitz, I., Orbach, Y., & Esplin, P.W.(2008). The NICHD investigative interview protocol for young victims and witnesses. In M.E.Lamb, I.Hershkowitz, Y.Orbach, & P.W.Esplin (Eds.), Tell me what happened. Structured investigative interviews of child victims and witnesses (pp. 83-101). Chichester, UK: Wiley.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. La Rooy, D., Brubacher, S.P., Aromäki-Stratos, A., Cyr, M., Hershkowitz, I., Korkman, J., ... & Stewart, H.(2015). The NICHD Protocol: A review of an internationally-used evidence-based tool for training child forensic interviewers. Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, 1, 76-89.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Leander, L., Granhag, P.A., & Christianson, S.Å.(2005). Children exposed to obscene phone calls: What they remember and tell. Child Abuse & Neglect, 29(8), 871-888.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Loftus, E.F.(2005). Planting misinformation in the human mind: A 30-year investigation of the malleability of memory. Learning & Memory, 12, 361-366.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Loftus, E.F., & Pickrell, J.E.(1995). The formation of false memories. Psychiatric Annals, 25, 720-725.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. McNally, R.J.(2005). Debunking myths about trauma and memory. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 50(13), 817-822.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Merckelbach, M., Candel, I., Jelicic, M., & Crombag, H.(2003). De goede getuige. Trema, 1, 213-219.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Miller, Q.C., & London, K.(2020). Forensic implications of delayed reports from child witnesses. In L.Pozzulo, E.Pica, and C.Sheahan (Eds.). Memory and sexual misconduct: Psychological research for criminal justice. New York: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Münsterberg, H.(1908). On the witness stand: Essays on psychology & crime. New York: Doubleday.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Orbach, Y., & Lamb, M.E.(1999). Assessing the accuracy of a child’s account of sexual abuse: A case study. Child Abuse & Neglect, 23(1), 91-98.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Orbach, Y., Hershkowitz, I., Lamb, M.E., Sternberg, K.J., Esplin, P.W., & Horowitz, D.(2000). Assessing the value of structured protocols for forensic interviews of alleged child abuse victims. Child Abuse & Neglect, 24(6), 733-752.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Otgaar, H., Candel, I., & Merckelbach, H.(2008). Children’s false memories: Easier to elicit for a negative than for a neutral event. Acta Psychologica, 128, 350-354.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Otgaar, H., Candel, I., Merckelbach, H., & Wade, K.A.(2009). Abducted by a UFO: Prevalence information affects young children’s false memories for an implausible event. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23, 115-125.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Otgaar, H., Candel, I., Scoboria, A., & Merckelbach, H.(2010). Script knowledge enhances the development of children’s false memories. Acta Psychologica, 133, 57-63.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Otgaar, H., Howe, M.L., Brackmann, N., & Smeets, T.(2016). The malleability of developmental trends in neutral and negative memory illusions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145, 31-55.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Otgaar, H., Howe, M.L., Patihis, L., Merckelbach, H., Lynn, S. J., Lilienfeld, S.O., & Loftus, E.F.(2019). The return of the repressed: the persistent and problematic claims of long-forgotten trauma. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14(6), 1072-1095.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Otgaar, H., Howe, M.L., Merckelbach, H., & Muris, P.(2018). Who is the better eyewitness? Sometimes adults but at other times children. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(5), 378-385.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Otgaar, H., Howe, M.L., Muris, P., & Merckelbach, H.(2019). Dealing with false memories in children and adults: Recommendations for the legal arena. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 6(1), 87-93.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Otgaar, H., Howe, M.L., Muris, P., & Merckelbach, H.(2019). Associative activation as a mechanism underlying false memory formation. Clinical Psychological Science, 7(2), 191-195.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Otgaar, H., La Rooy, D., Horselenberg, R., Hershkowitz, I., De Ruiter, C., Blezer, L., ... & Kollau, R.(2019). Assessing the quality of child investigative interviewing in the Netherlands. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 33(5), 889-897.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Pezdek, K., & Hodge, D.(1999). Planting false childhood memories in children: The role of event plausibility. Child Development, 70(4), 887-895.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Pichler, A.S., Sharman, S.J., Powell, M., Westera, N., & Goodman-Delahunty, J.(2020). Association between interview quality and child sexual abuse trial outcome. Journal of Family Violence, 35, 395-403.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Pipe, M.E., Orbach, Y., Lamb, M.E., Abbott, C.B., & Stewart, H.(2013). Do case outcomes change when investigative interviewing practices change?. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 19(2), 179-190.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Roediger, H.L., & McDermott, K.B.(1995). Creating false memories: Remembering words not presented in lists. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 21(4), 803-814.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Scoboria, A., Wade, K.A., Lindsay, D.S., Azad, T., Strange, D., Ost, J., & Hyman, I.E.(2017). A mega-analysis of memory reports from eight peer-reviewed false memory implantation studies. Memory, 25(2), 146-163.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Sjöberg, R.L., & Lindblad, F.(2002). Limited disclosure of sexual abuse in children whose experiences were documented by videotape. American Journal of Psychiatry, 159(2), 312-314.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Smeets, T., Candel, I., & Merckelbach, H.(2004). Accuracy, completeness, and consistency of emotional memories. The American Journal of Psychology, 595-609.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Sporer, S.L.(1982). A brief history of the psychology of testimony. Current Psychological Reviews, 2(3), 323-339.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Strange, D., Sutherland, R., & Garry, M.(2006). Event plausibility does not determine children's false memories. Memory, 14(8), 937-951.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Wade, K.A., Garry, M., Nash, R.A., & Harper, D.N.(2010). Anchoring effects in the development of false childhood memories. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 17(1), 66-72.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Wade, K.A., Garry, M., Read, J.D., & Lindsay, D.S.(2002). A picture is worth a thousand lies: Using false photographs to create false childhood memories. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 9(3), 597-603.
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.5117/PED2020.2.005.OTGA
Loading
/content/journals/10.5117/PED2020.2.005.OTGA
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): Children; false memory; memory; trauma
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error