Primacy (and recency) effects in delayed recognition of items from instances of repeated events.

In repeated-event paradigms where participants are asked to recall details of a sequence of similar instances they viewed/experienced previously, more accurate details are typically recalled from the first and final instances (i.e., long-term primacy and recency effects). Participants likely encode distinct attributes of details of the boundary instances that subsequently facilitate source monitoring. To date, most repeated event research has measured memory performance via free-/cued-recall paradigms; we examined delayed memory for repeated events using the recognition paradigm. In two preregistered experiments, participants viewed four videos, and after a delay completed a recognition task. In Experiment 1 (N = 168, between-subjects), participants decided whether an item was old (i.e., presented in any video) or new, or whether an item was presented in video 1/2/3/4 or was new. In Experiment 2 (N = 160, within-subjects), the old/new decision was followed by an instance attribution decision. Old items were recognised faster in the old/new task compared to the instance-attribution task. In the instance-attribution task, items from the boundary instances were accurately attributed faster compared to items from the middle instances. We found further evidence for primacy (and recency) effects in measures of confidence, memory judgments, recognition accuracy and discriminability, and confidence-accuracy calibration.

"Locked in a Jail Cell in Your Own Home": Child Maltreatment Investigators' Perspectives of COVID-19's Effects on Maltreated Children.

Children were at a greater risk of adverse experiences, including maltreatment, during the COVID-19 pandemic given the increased stress experienced by families and reduced visibility outside the home. Child maltreatment investigators witnessed the effects of the pandemic on maltreated children and offer valuable insight regarding children's experiences during the pandemic. The objective of this study was to examine child maltreatment investigators' perspectives of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on maltreated children and their families in Canada. Sixteen child maltreatment investigators were recruited from agencies across Canada that investigate or offer services to children suspected of having been maltreated. Three focus groups were conducted, which followed a semi-structured interview guide developed by the researchers. Thematic analysis resulted in five primary themes regarding maltreatment investigators' perceptions of the pandemic's effects on children, including child maltreatment during the COVID-19 pandemic, increased exposure to violent and traumatic events, stress and challenges faced by families, reduced access to services, and challenges and delays with maltreatment investigations. Child maltreatment investigators perceived that the pandemic profoundly impacted maltreated children and their families. It is critical to ensure children and parents have access to services during future emergencies.

A taxonomy of groomer profiles: Comparisons of in-person, online, and mixed groomers through the examination of Canadian judicial decisions.

BACKGROUND: Sexual grooming in cases of child sexual abuse (CSA) has captured the attention of researchers over the past decades. While early research focused on offenders who groomed children in person, our knowledge of online groomers has begun to increase. However, there has not been a concomitant increase in understanding of groomers who use both in-person and online grooming strategies (i.e., mixed groomers); it is not clear if mixed groomers more closely resemble in-person groomers, online groomers, or if they are their own distinct groomer type. OBJECTIVE: The current study creates the first taxonomy of in-person, online, and mixed groomer profiles through the empirical analysis of Canadian judicial decisions. PARTICIPANTS, SETTING, AND METHODS: 180 Canadian judicial decisions from 153 cases of CSA involving grooming were extracted from the Canadian Legal Information Institute and coded for information related to grooming strategies, the accused, the complainant, and the alleged offence. RESULTS: Mixed groomers used more grooming strategies per case than in-person and online groomers. Mixed groomers initiated contact online with complainants less often than online groomers, but identified more vulnerable victims, engaged in more non-sexual yet inappropriate conversations, and used more gain cooperation strategies than in-person groomers. Online groomers were older and had shorter delays to criminal proceedings than mixed and in-person groomers. Complainants groomed in person were younger and abused for longer durations than mixed and online complainants. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed taxonomy of groomer profiles can inform education and prevention programs about the heterogeneous nature of grooming. Those who groomed children in-person, online, or using a mixture of both methods varied greatly in their grooming strategies, victim age preferences, relationship to the child, and pathways to disclosure.

Categorizing Complainant-Accused Relationships in Cases of Child Sexual Abuse: The Distinctive Nature of Community Connections.

We examined the categorization of relationships between child complainants and accused perpetrators in cases of child sexual abuse (CSA). Researchers that have focused on complainant-accused relationships and other case variables, often combining two extrafamilial complainant-accused relationship categories: Relationships where the accused is connected to the child through their position in the community (i.e. community connections) and relationships where the non-relative accused is known to the child through a connection to the child's family (i.e. non-relative family connections). Using a database of 4,237 Canadian judicial decisions in cases of CSA, we reviewed a subset of 1,515 judicial decisions to explore differences between these two relationship categories. Compared to cases involving non-relative family connections, cases involving community connections had more male complainants, more multiple complainants, older complainants, higher frequencies of abuse, longer durations, and longer delays. We conclude that community and non-relative family connections are distinct relationships that should be separated for analyses in future research. Practical implications of recognizing the distinctiveness of non-relative family and community connection relationship categories in the context of abuse prevention and treatment are also discussed.

Potential Reporters of Suspected Child Maltreatment are Sensitive to the Amount of Evidence and the Potential Consequences of Reporting.

The context of suspected maltreatment cases is likely to influence the decision of whether or not to make a formal report. Across one pilot study (N = 368) and two experiments (Exp. 1 N = 444; Exp. 2 N =416), undergraduate students and online community participants reported their anticipated actions and beliefs when confronted with evidence of child maltreatment. Participants reviewed case dossiers built from real-world child neglect cases in which increasing levels of evidence were presented and the consequences of reporting, or not reporting, the maltreatment were made salient to the adult or child. The experiments revealed a clear difficulty in deciding whether or not to report suspected maltreatment. Highlighting the impact on either the child or the adult by describing potential consequences moved participants either closer to (child-salient) or farther from (adult-salient) a formal report. Participants were also sensitive to the amount of evidence to support a suspicion of abuse, which influenced the likelihood of a formal report. This work suggests that increasing the salience of maltreatment consequences to child victims may increase the likelihood that suspected maltreatment will be reported.

The Impact of the Consistency of Child Witness and Peer Reports on Credibility.

Adults' perceptions of children's disclosures have important implications for the response to that disclosure. Children who experience adult transgressions, such as maltreatment, often choose to disclose this experience to a peer. Thus, peer disclosure recipients may transmit this disclosure to an adult or provide support for the child's own disclosure. Despite this, the influence of peer disclosure on a child witness's credibility, as well as on the perceptions of peer disclosure recipients, is unknown. The present study examined how child witnesses' and peer disclosure recipients' credibility is impacted when the peer either confirms or contradicts the witness's disclosure (or concealment) of an adult transgression. Participants listened to a child witness and peer being interviewed by an adult in one of four disclosure patterns (consistent disclose, consistent conceal, witness disclose/peer conceal, or witness conceal/peer disclose). Participants rated both the witness and the peer on dimensions of credibility (honesty and cognitive competence). Results revealed that both the witness and peer were more credible when their reports were consistent with one another. When inconsistent, the witness/peer who disclosed was considered more credible than the one who concealed. The findings indicate the potential importance of peers in the disclosure process as they may support the witness's report and even be a credible discloser when the witness is reluctant to disclose.

Perceptions of familiar and unfamiliar ear- and eyewitnesses.

A witness's relationship with a defendant is frequently discussed in criminal trials, yet investigations into perceptions of this relationship have been scarce. Further, an exploration of witnesses other than eyewitnesses has been missing from the literature. The present studies explored how witness type and familiarity with a defendant impact the perceived credibility of a witness. In Study 1, a familiar earwitness was perceived as more credible and honest than a stranger earwitness but the same was not found for eyewitnesses. Results from Study 2 suggest an eyewitness was seen as more credible and believable than an earwitness, and that a familiar witness was seen as more reliable than a stranger, but not than an acquaintance. There was no impact of familiarity or witness type on legal decisions. The present studies indicate that the prior definitions of familiarity might only capture a restricted range of potentially familiar relations.

The impact of COVID-19 on Canadian child maltreatment workers.

As cases of child maltreatment become an increasing concern during the COVID-19 pandemic, the perspectives of those charged with protecting and supporting children and families is an important area of inquiry. We sought to examine the experiences of child maltreatment workers during the first wave of the pandemic (i.e., May-July 2020). We specifically aimed to examine child maltreatment experiences related to the following: (1) their work practices during the pandemic, (2) their perceived safety during the pandemic, and (3) their perceptions on the safety of the children and families with whom they work. A total of 106 child maltreatment investigators and forensic interviewers provided responses to a national survey disseminated across Canada. Using a cross-sectional design, data were collected through a survey management program. The survey combined both open-ended and forced choice questions to gather perspectives on respondents' experiences. More than half (67%) reported a reduction in their caseloads during the pandemic (May-July 2020) and continued in-person interviews, with the use of preventative health measures (i.e., PPE, physical distancing, gloves). Most respondents reported elevated stress levels and similarly high stress levels amongst the children and families to whom they provide services. Overall, our findings highlight both how child maltreatment investigators have adapted to preventative measures and the continuing areas of weakness where further supports are required.

To Disclose or Not to Disclose? The Influence of Consistently Disclosing and Disclosure Recipient on Perceptions of Children's Credibility.

With age, children become increasingly likely to make initial disclosures of transgressions, such as maltreatment, to peers. The present study examined adults' credibility evaluations of children's disclosures to peers across two studies. Study 1 examined credibility evaluations when children disclosed (or concealed) to a peer compared to an adult. Study 2 examined credibility ratings when children disclosed consistently or inconsistently across peer and adult interviews. Children were interviewed by a same-age peer and an adult regarding an event where an adult confederate spilled water on a laptop and broke it. In Study 1, participants heard a child interviewed by either a same-age peer or adult. In Study 2, participants heard a child interviewed by both the same-age peer and adult. In both studies, participants evaluated the child's credibility. Children who disclosed the transgression were rated as significantly less credible than those who concealed the transgression; however, credibility ratings did not differ by whether the child was interviewed by a peer or adult (Study 1). Furthermore, children who concealed the transgression across both interviews were rated as significantly more credible than children who disclosed in both interviews or disclosed to the peer, but not the adult, interviewer (Study 2). The current study provides the first evidence that peer disclosures may hinder children's credibility and that adults may be hesitant to believe children's disclosures of an adult's transgression.

How Do Judges Discuss Memory Failures in Childhood Sexual Abuse Cases? A Brief Report.

The natural fading of memory presents a difficulty for complainants who report childhood sexual abuse after a significant delay. The complainant's recollections, and their failures to recollect, may be the only source of evidence about the alleged offense and so may be determinative of outcome. We analyzed 101 published judicial decisions of timely tried and delayed complaints of child sexual abuse and coded for judge's comments related to complainants' memory failures. We utilized qualitative and quantitative methods for this study. There were more memory failure comments reported for cases with a delay to trial compared to no delay to trial. Further, there were more memory failure comments in cases that ended in acquittals than convictions when there was a delay to trial. Judicial discussion of memory failures about abuse setting or circumstances accounted for the highest percentage of comments.

Using machine learning analyses to explore relations between eyewitness lineup looking behaviors and suspect guilt.

OBJECTIVE: We conducted 2 experiments using machine learning to better understand which lineup looking behaviors postdict suspect guilt., Hypotheses: We hypothesized that (a) lineups with guilty suspects would be subject to shorter viewing duration of all images and fewer image looks overall than lineups with innocent suspects, and (b) confidence and accuracy would be positively correlated. The question of which factors would combine to best postdict suspect guilt was exploratory. METHOD: Experiment 1 included 405 children (6-14 years; 43% female) who each made 2 eyewitness identifications after viewing 2 live targets. Experiment 2 included 342 adult participants (Mage = 21.00; females = 75%) who each made 2 identifications after viewing a video including 2 targets. Participants made identifications using an interactive touchscreen simultaneous lineup in which they were restricted to viewing one image at a time and their interaction with the lineup was recorded. RESULTS: In Experiment 1, five variables (filler look time, suspect look time, number of suspect looks, number of filler looks, and winner look time) together postdicted (with a 67% accuracy score) target presence. In Experiment 2, four variables (number of suspect looks, number of filler looks, number of loser looks, and winner looks) together postdicted (with a 73% accuracy score) target presence. CONCLUSIONS: Further exploration of witness search behaviors can provide context to identification decisions. Understanding which behaviors postdict suspect guilt may assist with interpretation of identification decisions in the same way that decision confidence is currently used. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Boys Abused in a Community Setting: An Analysis of Gender, Relationship, and Delayed Prosecutions in Cases of Child Sexual Abuse.

Previous research on gender differences and delay of disclosure of child sexual abuse is inconclusive; some research has found that male victims are more likely to delay disclosure than female victims, while other studies have found no gender difference. The present archival study investigated this inconsistency by examining factors that interact with delay. Judicial outcomes of child sexual abuse cases were coded (N = 4237) for variables related to the offense, the complainant-accused relationship, and court proceedings. Males and females differed with respect to delay only when the relationship between the complainant and the accused was established in the community (e.g., sports coach) or was a stranger to the child. When the accused was a parent, other relative, or a non-relative connected to the child through the family, there was no difference in delay between males and females. Further, males were more vulnerable in the community, as evidenced by a higher proportion of accused community members with male than female complainants, even though males represented fewer than 25% of cases in the database. These findings may help explain inconsistencies in gender differences in delayed disclosure. Implications regarding education about child sexual abuse are discussed, with a focus on male victims.

Memory for temporal order in action is slow developing, sensitive to deviant input, and supported by foundational cognitive processes.

Executing actions in a specific order is a critical component of many action sequences that children must acquire, the majority of which are learned through observation and imitation of others. Although a wealth of evidence indicates that children can process and represent temporal order in memory, relatively little is known about the development of this ability and the cognitive mechanisms that support it in the context of imitation. The present research investigated 4- through 8-year-old children's ability to learn the temporal order of novel, arbitrary action sequences via imitation. On Day 1, children observed and imitated four instances each for two different multistep sequences. One sequence was easy and the other was difficult, in terms of categorizing the items used in each instance. For one sequence, the experimenter also performed one instance in a deviant temporal order, which occurred either early or late in learning. Memory generalization for each sequence was assessed on Day 2. Results indicated significant effects of age and sequence difficulty on children's ability to recall the individual actions as well as the standard order. Experiencing the deviant order also uniquely disrupted children's ability to generalize the order. Experiencing the deviant early in learning globally lowered children's memory for both sequences. Thus, children's ability to learn temporal order develops slowly over childhood, is supported by foundational cognitive processes that operate in a hierarchical fashion, and is highly sensitive to variable temporal input. These results have implications for theories of imitation and cultural learning more broadly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

A meta-analysis of differences in children's reports of single and repeated events.

When children report abuse, they often report that it occurred repeatedly. In most jurisdictions, children will be asked to report each instance of abuse with as many details as possible. In the current meta-analysis, we analyzed data from 31 experiments and 3099 children. When accuracy was defined as the number of correct details from the target instance (i.e., narrow definition), repeated-event children were less accurate than single-event children. However, we argue that defining accuracy as the number of reported details that were experienced across instances (i.e., broad definition) is more appropriate for repeated events. When a broad definition was applied, single- and repeated-event children were similarly accurate. Importantly, repeated-event children were less likely than single-event children to report details that had never been experienced and they were no more likely to say "I don't know." Overall, repeated-event children were more suggestible than single-event children, but this was moderated by length of delay to recall. In analyses of recognition data, single-event children's sensitivity score was higher than repeated-event children's, with no significant difference in response bias as a function of event frequency. We discuss these results in the context of how children's memory for repeated events is organized. We also consider the advantage of applying a broad definition of accuracy for victims of repeated abuse and charging repeated abuse as a continuous offense rather than discrete acts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Eyewitness Identification: Live, Photo, and Video Lineups.

The medium used to present lineup members for eyewitness identification varies according to the location of the criminal investigation. Although in some jurisdictions live lineups remain the default procedure, elsewhere this practice has been replaced with photo or video lineups. This divergence leads to two possibilities: Either some jurisdictions are not using the lineup medium that best facilitates accurate eyewitness identification or the lineup medium has no bearing on the accuracy of eyewitness identification. Photo and video lineups are the more practical options, but proponents of live lineups believe witnesses make better identification decisions when the lineup members are physically present. Here, the authors argue against this live superiority hypothesis. To be superior in practice, the benefits of live presentation would have to be substantial enough to overcome the inherent difficulties of organizing and administering a live lineup. The review of the literature suggests that even in experimental settings, where these difficulties can be minimized, it is not clear that live lineups are superior. The authors conclude that live lineups are rarely the best option in practice and encourage further research to establish which nonlive medium provides the best balance between probative value and practical utility.

How sure are you that this is the man you saw? Child witnesses can use confidence judgments to identify a target.

We tested whether an alternative lineup procedure designed to minimize problematic influences (e.g., metacognitive development) on decision criteria could be effectively used by children and improve child eyewitness identification performance relative to a standard identification task. Five hundred sixteen children (6- to 13-year-olds) watched a video of a target reading word lists and, the next day, made confidence ratings for each lineup member or standard categorical decisions for 8 lineup members presented sequentially. Two algorithms were applied to classify confidence ratings into categorical decisions and facilitate comparisons across conditions. The classification algorithms produced accuracy rates for the confidence rating procedure that were comparable to the categorical procedure. These findings demonstrate that children can use a ratings-based procedure to discriminate between previously seen and unseen faces. In turn, this invites more nuanced and empirical consideration of ratings-based identification evidence as a probabilistic index of guilt that may attenuate problematic social influences on child witnesses' decision criteria. (PsycINFO Database Record

Investigator Sensitivity to Alibi Witness Inconsistency after a Long Delay.

In two studies, mock investigators conducted a computer-based investigation of a crime involving an alibi witness who varied in the consistency of his statements taken 5 years apart. Investigators showed evidence of skepticism of alibi witness statements in which major contradictions (activity, location) were present, and some skepticism of statements in which minor (activity) details were contradictory. Entirely consistent statements were judged favorably, and reduced perceptions of suspect guilt (Study 2). The age of the alibi witness did not impact judgments of suspect guilt when children (6 years) and adults (25 years) were compared (Study 1, N = 254), or when children of different ages were compared (6, 8, 11 years; Study 2, N = 234). The present data suggest that investigators were relatively more sensitive to considerations of accuracy than honesty. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Face-off: A new identification procedure for child eyewitnesses.

In 2 experiments, we introduce a new "face-off" procedure for child eyewitness identifications. The new procedure, which is premised on reducing the stimulus set size, was compared with the showup and simultaneous procedures in Experiment 1 and with modified versions of the simultaneous and elimination procedures in Experiment 2. Several benefits of the face-off procedure were observed: it was significantly more diagnostic than the showup procedure; it led to significantly more correct rejections of target-absent lineups than the simultaneous procedures in both experiments, and it led to greater information gain than the modified elimination and simultaneous procedures. The face-off procedure led to consistently more conservative responding than the simultaneous procedures in both experiments. Given the commonly cited concern that children are too lenient in their decision criteria for identification tasks, the face-off procedure may offer a concrete technique to reduce children's high choosing rates. (PsycINFO Database Record

What children recall about a repeated event when one instance is different from the others.

This research examined whether a memorable and unexpected change (deviation details) presented during 1 instance of a repeated event facilitated children's memory for that instance and whether a repeated event facilitated children's memory for deviation details. In Experiments 1 and 2, 8-year-olds (N = 167) watched 1 or 4 live magic shows. Children were interviewed about the last or only show, which did or did not contain deviation details. Children reported more accurate information about the instance when deviation details were presented than when they were not, but repeated experience did not improve memory for deviation details. In Experiment 3, children (N = 145; 6- to 11-year-olds) participated in 4 magic shows and answered questions about each one. Deviation details were manipulated such that they caused a change in how the show was experienced (continuous) or had no such effect on the rest of the show (discrete). Younger, but not older, children's recall of all instances improved when a continuous deviation occurred compared to no deviation. Implications for how deviation details are represented in memory, as well as forensic applications of the findings, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Children who experienced a repeated event only appear less accurate in a second interview than those who experienced a unique event.

When children have experienced a repeated event, reports of experienced details may be inconsistently reported across multiple interviews. In 3 experiments, we explored consistency of children's reports of an instance of a repeated event after a long delay (Exp. 1, N = 53, Mage = 7.95 years; Exp. 2, N = 70, Mage = 5.77 years, Exp. 3, N = 59, Mage = 4.88 years). In all experiments, children either experienced 1 or 4 activity sessions, followed at a relatively short delay (days or weeks) by an initial memory test. Then, following a longer delay (4 months or 1 year), children were reinterviewed with the same memory questions. We analyzed the consistency of children's memory reports across the 2 interviews, as well as forgetting, reminiscence, and accuracy, defined with both narrow and broad criteria. A highly consistent pattern was observed across the 3 experiments with children who experienced a single event appearing more consistent than children who experienced a repeated event. We conclude that inconsistencies across multiple interviews can be expected from children who have experienced repeated events and these inconsistencies are often reflective of accurate, but different, recall. (PsycINFO Database Record