{"id":{"repo_id":"utc","oai_identifier":"oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-1131"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/utc/oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-1131","repository":{"repo_id":"utc","name":"University of Tennessee - Chattanooga","base_url":"https://scholar.utc.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Effects of child age and type of detail reported on credibility of child abuse allegations","abstract":"With repeated experiences, children’s reports of an event tend to contain fewer episodic, contextually embedded details and more inconsistencies. In one prior study, children who experienced a play event four times were rated by mock jurors as less accurate and less believable than children who experienced it once, although there was no difference in their actual accuracy (Connolly, Price, Lavoie, & Gordon, 2008). In the present study, 405 undergraduate students read one of four scenarios of a child sexual abuse allegation in a 2 (age: 4- or 10-years-old) by 2 (experience: single or multiple) factorial design. Overall, regardless of age, participants rated the child alleging repeated abuse as significantly less believable, honest, cognitively competent, and consistent than the child alleging a single abuse occurrence. Jurors may need education about the effects of repeated experience on children’s accounts of abuse in order to reach appropriate decisions.","abstract_html":"With repeated experiences, children’s reports of an event tend to contain fewer episodic, contextually embedded details and more inconsistencies. In one prior study, children who experienced a play event four times were rated by mock jurors as less accurate and less believable than children who experienced it once, although there was no difference in their actual accuracy (Connolly, Price, Lavoie, & Gordon, 2008). In the present study, 405 undergraduate students read one of four scenarios of a child sexual abuse allegation in a 2 (age: 4- or 10-years-old) by 2 (experience: single or multiple) factorial design. Overall, regardless of age, participants rated the child alleging repeated abuse as significantly less believable, honest, cognitively competent, and consistent than the child alleging a single abuse occurrence. Jurors may need education about the effects of repeated experience on children’s accounts of abuse in order to reach appropriate decisions.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kulisek, Natalie R."],"institution":"University of Tennessee at Chattanooga","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Warren, Amye","Ross, David F.; Clark, Amanda J.","College of Arts and Sciences"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":null,"date_issued":"","date_published":null,"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:46:11Z","subjects":["Child witnesses","Recollection (Psychology)","Sexually abused children","Interviewing in child abuse","Child abuse -- Investigations"],"languages":["English","eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":["https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/122","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Warren, Amye","Ross, David F.; Clark, Amanda J.","College of Arts and Sciences"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kulisek, Natalie R."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2014-05-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["University of Tennessee at Chattanooga","Chattanooga (Tenn.)"]},{"key":"dc:relation","label":"Dc Relation","values":["Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Masters theses","Text"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Child witnesses","Recollection (Psychology)","Sexually abused children","Interviewing in child abuse","Child abuse -- Investigations"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English","eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/122"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Dept. of Psychology","M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["With repeated experiences, children’s reports of an event tend to contain fewer episodic, contextually embedded details and more inconsistencies. In one prior study, children who experienced a play event four times were rated by mock jurors as less accurate and less believable than children who experienced it once, although there was no difference in their actual accuracy (Connolly, Price, Lavoie, & Gordon, 2008). In the present study, 405 undergraduate students read one of four scenarios of a child sexual abuse allegation in a 2 (age: 4- or 10-years-old) by 2 (experience: single or multiple) factorial design. Overall, regardless of age, participants rated the child alleging repeated abuse as significantly less believable, honest, cognitively competent, and consistent than the child alleging a single abuse occurrence. Jurors may need education about the effects of repeated experience on children’s accounts of abuse in order to reach appropriate decisions."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Effects of child age and type of detail reported on credibility of child abuse allegations"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Warren, Amye","Ross, David F.; Clark, Amanda J.","College of Arts and Sciences"],"dc:creator":["Kulisek, Natalie R."],"dc:date":["2014-05-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description":["Dept. of Psychology","M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science."],"dc:description.abstract":["With repeated experiences, children’s reports of an event tend to contain fewer episodic, contextually embedded details and more inconsistencies. In one prior study, children who experienced a play event four times were rated by mock jurors as less accurate and less believable than children who experienced it once, although there was no difference in their actual accuracy (Connolly, Price, Lavoie, & Gordon, 2008). In the present study, 405 undergraduate students read one of four scenarios of a child sexual abuse allegation in a 2 (age: 4- or 10-years-old) by 2 (experience: single or multiple) factorial design. Overall, regardless of age, participants rated the child alleging repeated abuse as significantly less believable, honest, cognitively competent, and consistent than the child alleging a single abuse occurrence. Jurors may need education about the effects of repeated experience on children’s accounts of abuse in order to reach appropriate decisions."],"dc:identifier":["https://scholar.utc.edu/theses/122"],"dc:language":["English","eng"],"dc:publisher":["University of Tennessee at Chattanooga","Chattanooga (Tenn.)"],"dc:relation":["Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations"],"dc:rights":["https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en"],"dc:subject":["Child witnesses","Recollection (Psychology)","Sexually abused children","Interviewing in child abuse","Child abuse -- Investigations"],"dc:title":["Effects of child age and type of detail reported on credibility of child abuse allegations"],"dc:type":["Masters theses","Text"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:46:11Z"}