Consistency amongst pairs: How consistent are child co-witnesses with one another?

Purpose

When multiple children are asked about the same event, the consistency of their reports may be used as a heuristic for credibility. Little research has considered how consistent child co-witnesses are likely to be. In this study, we explored how likely child co-witnesses were to report the same details from a mutually experienced event.

Methods

Pairs of children participated in an educational science event during which the target attempted to coax the children into breaking preestablished rules for the session (i.e., commit transgressions). Children were individually interviewed about their experience on two subsequent occasions.

Results

Co-witnesses tended to be quite inconsistent: 32%–55% of all details recalled were only mentioned by one co-witness. Various factors were associated with co-witness consistency, including delay before the interview, centrality of details recalled, and children's age and forthcomingness.

Conclusions

The findings indicate that inconsistency between co-witnesses reflects a natural memory phenomenon, and that practitioners should be cautious of using co-witness consistency as an indicator of credibility.     

Value-Based Collaboration Between Leaders at Schools of Music and Performing Arts and Leaders at Compulsory Schools

In this study, we investigate collaboration efforts between leaders at schools of music and performing arts and leaders at compulsory schools, as well as the drivers behind the initiation and maintenance of such collaborative work. One driver is an existing concern about the lack of qualified music teachers at compulsory schools. We argue, however, that the real force behind such collaboration is a strong belief in the pure value of music and art among the collaborating leaders. Our findings indicate that value congruence and social exchanges across the organizations in question, provides the core basis for an effective collaboration.     

The effect of uniform and prior knowledge on children's event reports and disclosure of secrets

The present paper examined the effect of police uniform on the accuracy of 6- to 8-year-old children's reports about an event and it explored the roles that interviewer prior knowledge and social status play in mediating any effects of uniform. Two studies were conducted; in the first study, interviewers wore uniforms that were independent of a forensic context whereas in the second study, the interviews were conducted by police officers who wore either uniform or civilian clothes. Children reported more information (accurate, as well as inaccurate) to a police interviewer in civilian clothes compared to uniform. This finding was found only in the police uniform context. Interviewer's prior knowledge had no impact on the children's reports in either context. The likely impact of police uniform is discussed. Authors' Note: Thanks to many teachers, principals and children who volunteered to partake in this project and to Sarah Agnew, Greg Angenent, Catherine Borg, Sue Connor, Agnes Kalinowski, Joanna Kellis and Vivian Mikhail who assisted in the data collection, coding and analysis. Thanks also to the members of the Victorian Police (Community Policing Squad) who conducted interviews for this project, and to Sergeant Lisa McMeeken, and Senior Constable Jennifer Evans of the VATE project who coordinated the police interviews.