ERIC Number: EJ754475
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007-Feb
Pages: 10
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-006X
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Supportive or Suggestive: Do Human Figure Drawings Help 5- to 7-Year-Old Children to Report Touch?
Brown, Deirdre A.; Pipe, Margaret-Ellen; Lewis, Charlie; Lamb, Michael E.; Orbach, Yael
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, v75 n1 p33-42 Feb 2007
The authors examined the accuracy of information elicited from seventy-nine 5- to 7-year-old children about a staged event that included physical contact-touching. Four to six weeks later, children's recall for the event was assessed using an interview protocol analogous to those used in forensic investigations with children. Following the verbal interview, children were asked about touch when provided with human figure drawings (drawings only), following practice using the human figure drawings (drawings with instruction), or without drawings (verbal questions only). In this touch-inquiry phase of the interview, most children provided new information. Children in the drawings conditions reported more incorrect information than those in the verbal questions condition. Forensically relevant errors were infrequent and were rarely elaborated on. Although asking children to talk about innocuous touch may lead them to report unreliable information, especially when human figure drawings are used as aids, errors are reduced when open-ended prompts are used to elicit further information about reported touches.
Descriptors: Investigations, Freehand Drawing, Cognitive Objectives, Tactual Perception, Recall (Psychology), Performance Based Assessment, Matched Groups, Elementary School Students, Interviews, Psychological Studies, Prompting, Reliability
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A