Stereotypes and Perceptions of Child Witness Credibility
Research has examined factors that influence child witness credibility because it has the potential to influence case outcomes. This study investigated beliefs that impact perceptions of child witness credibility in cases of physical abuse. Participants (N = 95) were asked open ended questions inquiring about factors that either contribute to or detract from credibility. Using the responses provided, a check-list was created to assess the strength of the association between the words generated and the categories (i.e., credible and not credible; N = 64). The second part of this study examined whether a training protocol could ameliorate belief activation and application in cases of child physical abuse. In the second part of the study participants (N = 254) were randomly assigned to either a training or control condition. Participants were presented with one of six vignettes, based on a 2 (training condition: counterstereotype affirmation training, control) by 3 (vignette type: positive, negative, neutral) between subject design. It was hypothesized that participants receiving training would experience reduced stereotype activation than the control group and resultantly rate the credibility of the child closer to three or four (neutral) on a seven point credibility scale. It was also hypothesized that participants would rate the child witness in the positive vignettes as more credible than the child witness in the negative vignettes. The results of the study did not support the hypothesis that training would ameliorate belief activation, although training impacted application of the activated beliefs with regards to decisions made about the honesty and cognitive ability of the child witness. Participants gave the positive vignettes higher credibility ratings, followed by the neutral vignettes, and then the negative vignettes. Beliefs impact decision making and training has the potential to impact judgments of credibility.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina