Children's use of a verbal-nonverbal consistency role for assessing truth and lying

Research on adults and older adolescents has indicated that verbal and nonverbal coimnunication cues are utilized by listeners to assess speaker truthfulness and sincerity. Some evidence suggests that truthfulness is inferred from the consistency between these two types of cues. The present study was designed to assess whether, and if so, at what age children use a consistency principle to determine truth and lying. Twenty subjects (10 boys and 10 girls) from each of kindergarten, second, and fourth grade were shown videotapes of male and female stimulus persons providing concomitant verbal and nonverbal cues of matched valence (consistent) or of mismatched valence (inconsistent). After each verbal-nonverbal communication subjects were asked to judge whether the stimulus person was telling the truth or lying. Results indicated that a consistency pattern was evident by fourth grade (age 9). Additionally, sex differences were found indicating that the consistency pattern was more evident in females than in males

A dangerous world implicit theory: examining overlap with other criminogenic constructs

Ward and Keenan (1999, Child molesters’ implicit theories. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 14(8), 821–838. doi: 10.1177/088626099014008003) hypothesised that some individuals who sexually offend against children have belief systems through which they perceive the world as an inherently dangerous place – labelled a dangerous world implicit theory (DWIT). Individuals with a DWIT are hypothesised to either (1) believe it is necessary to punish women and/or children who are perceived as threatening, or (2) see children as more accepting than adults, and as capable of understanding and gratifying the individual’s needs and desires. In two online studies (N = 113 and N = 123) we examined the possible overlap between the DWIT and four other constructs: hostile attribution bias, hostile sexism, emotional congruence with children, and a ‘children as sexual beings’ implicit theory. Results suggest that identifying with an individual holding DWIT overlaps considerably with some of the other constructs, but not with hostile attribution bias – a finding that ran counter to our hypothese

Cystic fibrosis: Issues from the sibling perspective

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