Deck 6: Interviewing Children and Memories of Sexual Abuse

Question 1

Which general conclusion about the best interview techniques for children is FALSE?

A) Training investigators seems to increase their use of open-ended, less directive utterances.
B) Regardless of methods, most approaches say use props and dolls only as a last resort.
C) Some methods question from specific to general while others go from general to specific.
D) Research studies seem to confirm that open-ended questions elicit more useful information.

Answer 1

Some methods question from specific to general while others go from general to specific.

Question 2

When the interviewer using the NICHD protocol for children says things like "OK," "Yes" and "Uh-huh," he or she is demonstrating which type of prompt?

A) cued invitation
B) facilitator
C) directive
D) placating

Answer 2

facilitator

Question 3

Which is NOT one of the three major behavior symptoms associated with children suffering from Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome explained in the text?

A) recanting of allegations of abuse after initial claims have been made
B) denying that any sexual abuse ever occurred
C) delaying disclosure of the abuse
D) blaming an absent parent or sibling for allowing the abuse

Answer 3

blaming an absent parent or sibling for allowing the abuse

Question 4

Which is NOT one of the suggested practices for working with children in interviews?

A) Arrive with an agenda for what you want to accomplish in the interview.
B) Provide the groundwork for the interview (e.g., what the child can say).
C) Make sure the child knows the meaning and importance of telling the truth.
D) Before the interview, develop rapport and practise sharing information.

Question 5

"Tell me everything that happened" is an example of an open-ended request, which is considered a(n) _____ type of prompt.

A) directive
B) cued invitation
C) invitation
D) facilitator

Question 6

Which was NOT a part of the competency inquiry conducted before 2006 where a judge would determine if a child could testify?

A) Neutral party had to testify that child was oriented to time, place and duty.
B) A child needed to be able to perceive, remember and communicate events.
C) There was no underlying presumption of the capacity to testify.
D) Child had to understand the meaning of an oath and the moral consequences of telling a lie.

Question 7

According to the text, although cases where children recant previous allegations of sexual abuse are unusual, those who do recant most often have been abused by a:

A) stranger.
B) parental figure.
C) sibling.
D) neighbor or friend of the family.

Question 8

When Dr. Maggie Bruck testified in the R. v. Sterling case that interviewers developed misleading information, she referred to a study where misleading suggestions and leading questions prompted inaccurate information from children about a character called:

A) Allen Lowe.
B) John Crane.
C) Sam Stone.
D) Peter Powers.

Question 9

Which statement most accurately reflects the results of Salmon's research on the use of anatomically correct dolls in sex abuse interviews?

A) When following best practices interviewing, the dolls elicited more accurate details of events from children under five years of age.
B) When following best practices interviewing, the dolls did not improve the quality of the children's reports.
C) The dolls are correctly used to elicit accounts of inappropriate touching when children are reluctant to admit to being abused.
D) Interviewers were more likely to employ leading questions if they did not have the use of anatomically correct dolls.

Question 10

Which is NOT a technique included in the NICHD Investigative Interview Protocol?

A) Use closed-ended questions that only require a yes or no answer.
B) Avoid suggestive questions that include information not offered by the child.
C) Explain ground rules such as child's ability to say "I don't know" when appropriate
D) Ask children to describe a non-threatening activity as a way to practice narrating events.

Question 11

In 2008 in Canada, the type of child maltreatment allegation most likely to be substantiated was:

A) physical abuse.
B) exposure to intimate partner violence.
C) emotional maltreatment.
D) sexual abuse.

Question 12

Which was NOT one of the reforms to Canada's Evidence Act amended in 1988 to facilitate children's testimony in court?

A) Children's testimony did not need to be independently corroborated.
B) Children no longer needed to swear an oath in order to testify.
C) Children under 14 could testify if they could show they knew truth from lies.
D) Children under 14 must have communication skills at their age level to testify.

Question 13

Which is NOT one of the findings of the Child Witness Project's study of 3- to 7-year-olds with regard to competency inquiries?

A) Children's conceptual knowledge about truth- and lie-telling is not related to their actual truthfulness.
B) Having children promise to tell the truth increased the likelihood that they would tell the truth.
C) Discussion about telling the truth did not appear to be influential in truth-telling outcomes.
D) When posed a hypothetical dilemma, younger children are more likely to rate telling a lie as very bad.

Question 14

Dr. Maggie Bruck testified in the R. v. Sterling case that interviewers developed misleading information by attempting to instill an image of a person as bad. She called this:

A) creating monsters.
B) impugning characters.
C) stereotype induction.
D) dramatization of evil.

Question 15

In 2008 in Canada, the type of child maltreatment allegation most likely to be unfounded was:

A) emotional maltreatment.
B) exposure to intimate partner violence.
C) sexual abuse.
D) physical abuse.

Question 16

Researchers evaluating the French-language NICHD Protocol found that after training, interviewers obtained the greatest percentage of details using _____ utterances rather than before training, when the greatest percentage of details were garnered using _____ utterances.

A) option-posing elicited; confirming-elicited
B) invitation-elicited; directive-elicited
C) option-posing-elicited; suggestive-elicited
D) inclusive-elicited; invitation-elicited

Question 17

Which is NOT one of the types of prompts found in the NICHD protocol for interviewing children?

A) directive
B) placating
C) cued invitation
D) invitation

Question 18

An interview protocol similar to the NICHD that is commonly used in Canada as developed by John Yuille et al. is called:

A) Multi-layering.
B) Open Disclosure.
C) the British Columbia Model.
D) the Step-Wise Interview.

Question 19

Which was NOT one of the questions asked in the Child Witness Project when it examined competency inquiries with 3- to 7-year-olds?

A) Would discussing the concepts of truth-telling promote greater truth-telling?
B) Would discussing negative consequences of lying promote more truth-telling?
C) Would getting a child to promise to tell the truth promote greater truth-telling?
D) Would children who show they understand lying and truth-telling be more likely to tell the truth?

Question 20

Researchers evaluating the French-language NICHD Protocol found that after training, interviewers increased their _____ utterances and decreased their _____ utterances.

A) suggestive; directive
B) option-posing; inclusive
C) invitation; suggestive
D) directive; confirming

Question 21

Outline the various accommodations that have been made for children and how the courts have justified them.

Question 22

One reason why adult hearsay witness testimony may be perceived differently from that of a child is that:

A) adults are more confident in their testimony.
B) children are less nervous than adults.
C) jurors are more likely to carefully scrutinize adults .
D) children are more likely to make eye contact.

Question 23

Which statement about the accommodations made for children testifying in court is FALSE?

A) A child has the right to not accept their taped pretrial interview being used in court.
B) The court could impose a ban on publishing information about the court proceeding.
C) The judge could close the courtroom proceeding to the media but not the public.
D) A supporting adult could be allowed in the child's presence only if they are not a witness.

Question 24

Results of research by Ross and Lindsay on how potential jurors might be impacted by children testifying through alterative means found that:

A) jurors were more likely to find the defendant guilty if the child testified by closed-circuit TV.
B) there were no differences in assessments of guilt between control testimony and alternative forms.
C) children whose testimony was by videotape were deemed less credible than those who appeared in court.
D) simulated jurors viewed the defendant more negatively if the child testified behind a screen.

Question 25

In R. v. Milot, the court held that:

A) the need to protect the child victim from harm outweighed the defendant's right to confront his accuser.
B) the right to confront one's accuser is not seriously reduced by the use of a one-way screen.
C) the truth-finding function of the trial is best served by allowing the use of video-taped pretrial interviews.
D) a 7-year-old is not so young that testifying outside the courtroom is a required accommodation.

Question 26

Elizabeth Loftus, well known for her research on false memories, created a memory in participants of being lost within a mall. Of the participants in the experiment, _____ percent remembered most or all of the implanted event.

A) 15
B) 20
C) 25
D) 30

Question 27

Overall, research suggests that false memories of mildly traumatic events like an outdoor accident or attack by an animal could be implanted in about _____ percent of people tested.

A) 14
B) 21
C) 27
D) 33

Question 28

Which is NOT one of the explanations commonly given for forgetting sexual abuse?

A) Memory is transient and erodes over time.
B) There was a lack of reminders about where and how the abuse occurred.
C) The victim experienced threats of physical harm or legal repercussions.
D) The abuser was a close family member the victim depended on.

Question 29

The concept of repression was popularized by the work of:

A) John Watson.
B) Albert Ellis.
C) Sigmund Freud.
D) Karen Horney.

Question 30

Discuss the early and more recent versions of the competency inquiry for children testifying at trial in terms of improvements in the process.

Question 31

Describe the elements of the NICDH Interview Protocol and how they avoid problematic interviewing techniques.

Question 32

In an analysis of over 2000 criminal cases of delayed allegations of child sexual abuse, _____ percent involved continuous memory of the abuse; in other words, no repression.

A) 77
B) 81
C) 87
D) 94

Question 33

Which statement about the infamous U.S. Ingram case is FALSE?

A) No evidence was ever found substantiating the crimes or linking Ingram to the crimes.
B) Ingram used concentration and prayer to construct false memories of false accusations.
C) Interrogation techniques over 5 months created details Ingram was too suggestible to deny.
D) Ingram had a previous record for indecent exposure and DUI.

Question 34

Should anatomically correct dolls be admissible in court? Why or why not?

Question 35

Lindsay and Read argue that some factors in a case would lead investigators to be skeptical. Which criteria is NOT listed as one to consider when evaluating claims of recovered memories of abuse?

A) Did the abuse involve multiple victims, particularly siblings?
B) Did the memory begin as a vague feeling or image rather than clear, detailed recollections?
C) Did the abuse continue over a period into adolescence?
D) Did the abuse involve extremely rare forms of sexual activity (bestiality, satanism)?

Question 36

Which is NOT one of the acceptable alternatives to children testifying that have been used in court to date?

A) one-way screens
B) a parent testifying in loco parentis
C) closed-circuit television
D) videotaped testimony

Question 37

Which statement about the current state of recovered memory of child sexual abuse is TRUE according to the text?

A) Lawsuits have forced psychotherapists to be more conservative in their probing of the past.
B) The number of claims of recovered memories has increased dramatically.
C) Better investigative techniques mean that fewer cases of child sexual abuse are undetected.
D) Canadian researchers have found that half of cases of child sexual abuse involve repressed memories.

Question 38

In R. v. Levogiannis the Canadian Supreme Court upheld the conviction and denied the appeal challenging the accommodation of:

A) video-taped testimony.
B) the one-way screen.
C) the use of closed-circuit TV.
D) a ban on media access to the trial.

Question 39

What do we know about recovered memories of child sexual abuse, including false memories?

Question 40

According to the authors, which statement about the concept of repression is FALSE?

A) Painful, threatening or traumatic memories are pushed unconsciously into the unconscious.
B) Controlled laboratory studies have documented and validated the process of repression.
C) The most common response to trauma is uncontrolled remembering not forgetting.
D) Hypnosis, guided imagery and dream interpretation are used to help recover memories.