Abstract
It is important to understand how adults rate the credibility of children’s evidential statements. Most research to date focuses on the ability of adults to detect deception as an individual. The current study looked at adults’ ability to detect deception as part of a group (as jurors would). Children are required to complete a competency test, prior to providing evidence, to discuss their understanding of the difference between truths and lies. We investigated whether knowledge of the results of this competency test improved participants’ accuracy at detecting deceit. Overall, participants’ lie detection accuracy pre-deliberation was at chance level (50%). Accuracy slightly improved post-deliberation. Accuracy remained the same for those who viewed a truth teller regardless of their knowledge about the positive results of a competency test. However, those who viewed a lie teller were significantly less accurate when they were not provided with the results of a competency test compared to when they did know that the child witness knew the difference between truths and lies.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Deception & Deceptive Communication: Motivations, Recognition Techniques and Behavioral Control |
Editors | Innocent Chiluwa |
Place of Publication | New York, US |
Publisher | Nova Science Publishers |
Pages | 37-66 |
Number of pages | 30 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781536128505 |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2018 |