Theory of mind and concealing vs. forthcoming communication in adolescence

Concealing information requires that adolescents manage the information that they share, which requires cognitive skills, for example, theory of mind (ToM). This study explored motivations for concealment that early adolescents (N = 90, M = 12.81 years, SD = 5.10 months, range 12–14 years, and 58% female) endorsed concealing or disclosing to friends and parents, in relation to their theory of mind. We found that adolescents broadly endorsed disclosure to both parents and friends, even when it might mean they would face consequences, be impolite (by not protecting another’s feelings), or face negative identity-related emotions. We found that ToM ability was associated with a tendency to endorse being forthcoming and sharing information with both friends and parents. These findings provide new insight into how the relation between ToM and concealment may change with age, specifically how in early adolescence it may foster open communication rather than concealment as is the case in early and middle childhood

A Legal and Psychological Critique of the Present Approach to the Assessment of the Competence of Child Witnesses

The Canada Evidence Act requires an inquiry to determine whether a child has the requisite moral and intellectual capacity to testify. Caselaw suggests that a child must demonstrate an understanding of abstract concepts like truth and promise to be competent to testify. This article reports on a survey of Ontario justice system professionals, revealing significant variation in how judges conduct competency inquiries. Children are often asked about religious beliefs and practices, and are frequently asked developmentally inappropriate questions. The authors also report on their experimental research which indicates that children\u27s ability to explain such abstract concepts as truth, lie, and promise is not related to whether children actually tell the truth. Child competency inquiries are demeaning to children, do not promote the search for the truth, and result in unnecessary appeals. The child competence inquiry should be abolished, though a judge should give a child simple instructions about the importance of truth telling, and ask the child to promise to tell the truth

A Legal and Psychological Critique of the Present Approach to the Assessment of the Competence of Child Witnesses

The Canada Evidence Act requires an inquiry to determine whether a child has the requisite moral and intellectual capacity to testify. Caselaw suggests that a child must demonstrate an understanding of abstract concepts like truth and promise to be competent to testify. This article reports on a survey of Ontario justice system professionals, revealing significant variation in how judges conduct competency inquiries. Children are often asked about religious beliefs and practices, and are frequently asked developmentally inappropriate questions. The authors also report on their experimental research which indicates that children\u27s ability to explain such abstract concepts as truth, lie, and promise is not related to whether children actually tell the truth. Child competency inquiries are demeaning to children, do not promote the search for the truth, and result in unnecessary appeals. The child competence inquiry should be abolished, though a judge should give a child simple instructions about the importance of truth telling, and ask the child to promise to tell the truth

From criminal interrogations to investigative interviews: a bibliometric study

This paper presents the results of a bibliometric study providing a comprehensive overview of the social science research conducted on criminal interrogations and investigative interviews since the 1900s. The objectives are to help researchers to further understand the research field, to better communicate research findings to practitioners, to help practitioners understand the breadth of scientific knowledge on criminal interrogations and investigative interviews, and to foster dialog between researchers and practitioners. To begin, after a brief description of Web of Science, we describe how we developed our database on criminal interrogations and investigative interviews. Then, we report the yearly evolution of articles, the journals where they were published, the research areas covered by this research field, as well as the authors, the institutions and the countries that published the most on a variety of topics related to criminal interrogations and investigative interviews. Finally, we present the most used keywords and the most cited articles, and examine the research on questionable tactics and techniques in the research field of criminal interrogations and investigative interviews. This paper ends with a critical look at the results, for the benefit of researchers and practitioners interested in criminal interrogations and investigative interviews