Understanding children's use of secrecy in the context of eyewitness reports

Law and Human Behavior

Volumn 26, Issue 3, 2002, Pages 285-313

  Bottoms, Bette L ^a   Goodman, Gail S ^b   Schwartz Kenney, Beth M ^c   Thomas, Sherilyn N ^d  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^c RANDOLPH COLLEGE   (United States)

^d RESEARCH INSTITUTE ON ADDICTIONS   (United States)

Author keywords

Child eyewitness testimony; Deception; Forensic interview; Lies; Secrets; Suggestibility

Indexed keywords

ACCURACY; CONTROLLED STUDY; EMOTION; FORENSIC MEDICINE; HUMAN; INFORMATION; INTERVIEW; LEGAL ASPECT; PRESCHOOL CHILD; PROFESSIONAL SECRECY; QUESTIONNAIRE; REVIEW; SOCIAL ASPECT; STANDARDIZATION; WITNESS; ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE; ARTICLE; CHILD; CHILD DEVELOPMENT; CHILD PSYCHOLOGY; CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE; CLINICAL TRIAL; CONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIAL; FEMALE; FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY; INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION; MALE; RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL; RECALL; RECUMBENCY;

ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE; CHILD; CHILD ABUSE, SEXUAL; CHILD DEVELOPMENT; CHILD PSYCHOLOGY; CHILD, PRESCHOOL; DECEPTION; FEMALE; FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY; HUMANS; MALE; MENTAL RECALL; TRUTH DISCLOSURE;

EID: 0036617066     PISSN: 01477307     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1023/A:1015324304975     Document Type: Review

References (100)

1. Astington, J. W., Harris, P. L., & Olson, D. R. (1988). Developing theories of mind. New York: Cambridge University Press.
2. Benedek, E. P., & Schetky, D. H. (1986). The child as a witness. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 37, 1225-1229.
3. Bok, S. (1983). Secrets: On the ethics of concealment and revelation. New York: Pantheon.
4. Bottoms, B. L., Kovera, M. B., & McAuliff, B. (Eds.). (2002). Children, social science, and the law. New York: Cambridge University Press.
5. Bottoms, B. L., Nysse, K. L., & Schwartz-Kenney, B. M. (1999, April). Understanding children's use of secrecy and adults' ability to detect it. Presentation at the annual meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Albuquerque, NM.
6. Bruck, M. (1999). A summary of an affidavit prepared for the case Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Cheryl Amirault La Fave. Applied Developmental Sciences, 3, 47-57.
7. Burgess, A. W., & Holstrom, L. L. (1975). Sexual trauma of children and adolescents: Pressure, sex, and secrecy. Nursing Clinics of North America, 10, 551-563.
8. Burton, R. V., & Strichartz, A. F. (1992). Liar! Liar! Pants on fire. In S. Ceci, M. Leichtman, & M. Putnick (Eds.), Cognitive and social factors in early deception (pp. 11-28). Hillside, NJ: Erlbaum.
9. Bussey, K. (1990. March). Adult influence on children's eyewitness reporting. Paper presented at biennial meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society, Williamsburg, VA.
10. Bussey, K. (1992). Lying and truthfulness: Children's definitions, standards, and evaluative reactions. Child Development, 63, 129-137.
11. Bussey, K., Lee, K., & Grimbeek, E. J. (1993). Lies and secrets: Implications for children's reporting of sexual abuse. In G. S. Goodman & B. L. Bottoms (Eds.), Child victims, child witnesses: Understanding and improving children's testimony (pp. 147-168). New York: Guilford.
12. Carter, C. A., Bottoms, B. L., & Levine, M. (1996). Linguistic and socioemotional influences on the accuracy of children's reports. Law and Human Behavior, 20, 335-358.
13. Ceci, S. J., & Bruck, M. (1993). Suggestibility of the child witness: A historical review and synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 113, 403-439.
14. Ceci, S. J., & Bruck, M. (1995). Jeopardy in the courtroom: A scientific analysis of children's testimony. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
15. Ceci, S. J., & Leichtman, M. D. (1992). "I know that you know that I know that you broke the toy": A brief report on recursive awareness among 3-year-olds. In S. J. Ceci, M. D. Leichtman, & M. E. Putnick (Eds.). Cognitive and social factors in early deception (pp. 1-10). Hillside, NJ: Erlbaum.
16. Ceci, S. J., Leichtman, M. D., Putnick, M. E., & Nightingale, N. N. (1993). The suggestibility of children's recollections. In D. Cicchetti & S. L. Toth (Eds.), Child abuse, child development, and social policy (pp. 117-138). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
17. Chandler, M., Fritz, A. S., & Hala, S. (1989). Small-scale deceit: Deception as a marker of two-, three-, and four-year-olds' early theories of mind. Child Development, 60, 1263-1277.
18. Chandler, M., & Hala, S. (1991). Trust and children's developing theories of mind. In K. Rotenberg (Ed.), Children's interpersonal trust: Sensitivity to lying, deception, and promise violations (pp. 135-159). New York: Springer.
19. Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 155-159.
20. Cole, P. M. (1986). Children's spontaneous control of facial expression. Child Development, 57, 1309-1321.
21. Cottle, T. J. (1980). Children's secrets. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
22. Coy v. Iowa, 108 S. Ct. 2798 (1988, June).
23. Davies, G., Tarrant, A., & Flin, R. (1989). Close encounters of the witness kind: Children's memory for a simulated health inspection. British Journal of Psychology, 80, 415-429.
24. Davis, S. L., & Bottoms, B. L. (2002). Effects of social support on children's eyewitness reports: A test of the underlying mechanism. Law and Human Behavior, 26, 185-215.
25. DePaulo, B. M., Epstein, J. A., & Wyer, M. M. (1993). Sex differences in lying: How women and men deal with the dilemma of deceit. In M. Lewis & C. Saarni (Eds.), Lying and deception in everyday life (pp. 126-147). New York: Guilford.
26. DePaulo, B. M., & Jordan, A. (1982). Age changes in deceiving and detecting deceit. In R. S. Feldman (Ed.), Development of nonverbal behavior in children (pp. 151-180). New York: Springer.
27. Ekman, P. (1989). Why kids lie. New York: Macmillan.
28. Eisen, M., Quas, J. A., & Goodman, G. S. (Eds.). (2002). Memory and suggestibility in the forensic interview. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
29. Feldman, R. S., Devin-Sheehan, L., & Allen, V. L. (1978). Nonverbal cues as indicators of verbal dissembling. American Educational Research Journal, 15, 217-231.
30. Feldman, R. S., & White, J. B. (1980). Detecting deception in children. Journal of Communication, 30, 121-129.
31. Finkelhor, D., & Dziuba-Leatherman, J. (1994). Children as victims of violence: A national survey. Pediatrics, 94, 413-420.
32. Fischer, K. W. (1980). A theory of cognitive development: The control and construction of hierarchies of skills. Psychological Review, 87, 477-531.
33. Freud, S. (1959). Collected papers (Vol. 3). (Alix & James Strachey, Trans.). New York: Basic Books.
34. Gilligan, C. (1977). In a different voice: Women's conception of the self and of morality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Review.
35. Goodman, G. S., & Bottoms, B. L. (Eds.). (1993). Child victims, child witnesses: Understanding and improving children's testimony. New York: Guilford.
36. Goodman, G. S., Bottoms, B. L., Schwartz-Kenney, B. M., & Rudy, L. (1991). Children's testimony about a stressful event: Improving children's reports. Journal of Narrative and Life History, 7, 69-99.
37. Goodman, G. S., & Clarke-Stewart, A. (1991). Suggestibility in children's testimony: Implications for sexual abuse investigations. In J. Doris (Ed.), The suggestibility of children's recollections (pp. 92-105). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
38. Goodman, G. S., Emery, R., & Haugaard, J. (1998). Developmental psychology and law: Divorce, child maltreatment, foster care, and adoption. In W. Damon (Series Ed.), I. Siegel, & A. Renninger (Vol. Eds.), Handbook of Child Psychology: Vol. 4. Child Psychology in Practice (pp. 775-876). New York: Wiley.
39. Goodman, G. S., & Reed, R. (1986). Age differences in eyewitness testimony. Law and Human Behavior, 10, 317-332.
40. Goodwin, J., Sahd, C., & Rada, R. (1979). Incest hoax: False accusations, false denials. Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law, 6, 269-276.
41. Goodman, G. S., & Schwartz-Kenney, B. M. (1992). Why knowing a child's age is not enough: Effects of cognitive, social, and emotional factors on children's testimony. In R. Flin & H. Dent (Eds.), Children as witnesses (pp. 15-32). London: Wiley.
42. Hala, S., Chandler, M., & Fritz, A. S. (1991). Fledging theories of mind: Deception as a marker of three-year-olds' understanding of false belief. Child Development, 62, 83-97.
43. Harari, H., & McDavid, J. W. (1969). Situational influence on moral justice: A study of "finking." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 11, 240-244.
44. Haugaard, J. J. (1993). Young children's classifications of the corroboration of a false statement as the truth or lie. Law and Human Behavior, 17, 645-660.
45. Haugaard, J. J., Reppucci, N. D., Laird, J., & Nauful, T. (1991). Children's definitions of the truth and their competency as witnesses in legal proceedings. Law and Human Behavior, 15, 253-271.
46. Herman, J. L. (1981). Father-daughter incest. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
47. Holden, G. W., Geffner, R., & Jouriles, E. N. (Eds.). (1998). Children exposed to marital violence: Theory, research, and applied issues. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
48. Hoogenraad, K., & McKenzie, B. E. (1995). Maternal reports of children's deceptive behavior. Australian Journal of Psychology, 47, 42-46.
49. Huston, A. C. (1983). Sex typing. In P. H. Mussen (Series Ed.) & E. M. Hetherington (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 4. Socialization, personality, and social development (4th ed., pp. 387-468). New York: Wiley.
50. Kohlberg, L. (1963). The development of children's orientation toward a moral order: I. Sequence in the development of moral thought. Vita Humana, 6, 11-33.
51. Last, U., & Aharoni-Etzioni, A. (1995). Secrets and reasons for secrecy among school-aged children: Developmental trends and gender differences. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 156, 191-203.
52. Lewis, M. (1993). The development of deception. In M. Lewis & C. Saarni (Eds.), Lying and deception in everyday life (pp. 90-105). New York: Guilford.
53. Lewis, M., Alessandri, S. M., & Sullivan, M. W. (1992). Differences in shame and pride as a function of children's gender and task difficulty. Child Development, 63, 630-638.
54. Lewis, M., Stanger, C., & Sullivan, M. W. (1989). Deception in 3-year-olds. Developmental Psychology, 25, 439-443.
55. Lewis, M., Sullivan, M. W., Stanger, C., & Weiss, M. (1989). Self-development and self-conscious emotions. Child Development, 60, 146-156.
56. Lyon, T. D. (1996). The effect of threats on children's disclosure of sexual abuse. The APSAC Advisor, 9(3), 9-15.
57. Lyon, T. D. (2000). Child witnesses and the oath: Empirical evidence. Southern California Law Review, 73(5), 1017-1074.
58. Lyon, T. D., & Saywitz, K. J. (1999). Young maltreated children's competence to take the oath. Applied Developmental Science, 3, 16-27.
59. Marvin, R., Greenberg, M., & Mossler, D. (1976). The early development of conceptual perspective taking: Distinguishing among multiple perspectives. Child Development, 47, 511-514.
60. Maryland v. Craig, 47 CrL 2258 U.S.S. Ct. (1990).
61. Meares, R., & Orlay, W. (1988). On self-boundary: A study of the development of the concept of secrecy. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 61, 305-316.
62. Milgram, S. (1974). Obedience to authority: An experimental view. New York: Harper & Row.
63. Myers, J. E. B. (1992). Evidence in child abuse and neglect. New York: Wiley.
64. Myers, J. E. B. (1998). Legal issues in child abuse and neglect (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
65. Nelson, K. (1986). Event knowledge. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
66. Nigro, G. N., & Snow, A. L. (1992). Gender differences in 3-year-olds' deceptions. In S. J. Ceci, M. D. Leichtman, & M. E. Putnick (Eds.), Cognitive and social factors in early deception (pp. 63-68). Hillside, NJ: Erlbaum.
67. Nysse, K. L., & Bottoms, B. L. (2000. March). Experts' and novices' abilities to detect deception in children. Presentation at the biennial meeting of the American Psychology-Law Society, New Orleans, LA.
68. Peisach, E., & Hardeman, M. (1983). Moral reasoning in early childhood: Lying and stealing. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 142, 107-120.
69. Peskin, J. (1992). Ruse and representations: On children's ability to conceal information. Developmental Psychology, 28, 84-89.
70. Peterson, C. C., Peterson, J. L., & Seeto, D. (1983). Developmental changes in ideas about lying. Child Development, 54, 1529-1535.
71. Piaget, J. (1959). The language and thought of the child. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. (Original work published 1926)
72. Pipe, M.-E., & Goodman, G. S. (1991). Elements of secrecy: Implications for children's testimony. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 9, 33-41.
73. Pipe, M.-E., & Wilson, J. C. (1994). Cues and secrets: Influences on children's event reports. Developmental Psychology, 30, 515-525.
74. Polak, A., & Harris, P. L. (1999). Deception by young children following noncompliance. Developmental Psychology, 35, 561-568.
75. Poole, D. A., & Lamb, M. E. (1998). Investigative interviews of children: A guide for helping professionals. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
76. Portwood, S., & Reppucci, N. D. (1996). Adults' impact on the suggestibility of preschoolers' recollections. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 17, 175-198.
77. Premack, D., & Woodruff, G. (1978). Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1, 515-526.
78. Ruffman, T., Olson, D. R., Ash, T., & Keenan, T. (1993). The ABCs of deception: Do young children understand deception in the same way as adults? Developmental Psychology, 29, 74-87.
79. Saarni, C. (1984). An observational study of children's attempts to monitor their expressive behavior. Child Development, 55, 1504-1513.
80. Saywitz, K., Goodman, G. S., Nicholas, G., & Moan, S. (1991). Children's memory for genital exams: Implications for child sexual abuse. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 682-691.
81. Schwartz-Kenney, B. M., Bottoms, B. L., & Goodman, G. S. (1996). Techniques for improving children's person identification accuracy. Child Maltreatment, 1, 121-133.
82. Sgroi, S. M., Porter, F. S., & Blick, L. C. (1982). Validation of child sexual abuse. In S. M. Sgroi (Ed.), Handbook of clinical intervention child sexual abuse (pp. 39-79). Lexington. MA: Heath.
83. Sodian, B. (1991). The development of deception in young children. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 9, 173-188.
84. Sorenson, E., Bottoms, B. L., & Perona, A. (1997). Intake and forensic interviewing in the children's advocacy center setting: A handbook. Washington, DC: National Network of Children's Advocacy Centers.
85. Stouthamer-Loeber, M. (1991). Young children's verbal misrepresentations of reality. In K. J. Rotenberg (Ed.), Children's interpersonal trust: Sensitivity to lying, deception, and promise violations (pp. 20-42). New York: Springer.
86. Strichartz, A. F., & Burton, R. V. (1990). Lies and truth: A study of the development of the concept. Child Development, 61, 211-220.
87. Summit, R. C. (1983). The child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome. Child Abuse and Neglect, 7, 177-193.
88. Swanson, L., & Biaggio, M. K. (1985). Therapeutic perspectives on father-daughter incest. American Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 667-674.
89. Thompson, R. A. (1992). Developmental changes in research risk and benefit: A changing calculus of concerns. In B. Stanley & J. E. Sieber (Eds.), Social research on children and adolescents (pp. 31-64). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
90. Thompson, W. C., Clarke-Stewart, A., & Lepore, S. J. (1997). What did the janitor do? Suggestive interviewing and the accuracy of children's accounts. Law and Human Behavior, 21, 405-426.
91. Tournier, P. (1965). Secrets (J. Embry, Trans.). London: SCM Press.
92. Trickett, R. K., & Schellenbach, C. (Eds.). (1998). Violence against children in the family and the community. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
93. Vasek, M. E. (1986). Lying as a skill: The development of deception in children. In R. W. Mitchell & N. S. Thompson (Eds.), Deception: Perspectives on human and nonhuman deceit (pp. 271-293). New York: State University of New York Press.
94. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1934).
95. Warren, A. R., & McGough, L. S. (1996). Research on children's suggestibility: Implications for the investigative interview. In B. L. Bottoms & G. S. Goodman (Eds.), International perspectives on child abuse and children's testimony: Psychological research and law (pp. 12-44). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
96. Wescott, H. L., Davies, G. M., & Bull, R. H. C. (2002). Children's testimony: A handbook of psychological research and forensic practice. Chichester, UK: Wiley.
97. Wilson, J. C., & Pipe, M.-E. (1989). The effects of cues on young children's recall of real events. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 18, 65-70.
98. Wimmer, H., & Perner, J. (1983). Beliefs about beliefs: Representation and constraining function of wrong beliefs in young children's understanding of deception. Cognition, 13, 103-128.
99. Wyatt, G. (1985). The sexual abuse of Afro-American and White American women in childhood. Child Abuse and Neglect, 10, 231-240.
100. Zaragoza, M. S., Graham, J. R., Hall, G. C. N., Hirschman, R., & Ben-Porath, Y. S. (Eds.). (1995). Memory and testimony in the child witness. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 313