The delicate handling of "don't know" responses during interviews with children (and everyone else)...
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The delicate handling of "don't know" responses during interviews with children (and everyone else) Alan Scoboria, PhD, CPsych
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Transcript of The delicate handling of "don't know" responses during interviews with children (and everyone else)...
The delicate handling of "don't know" responses during interviews with children (and everyone else)
Alan Scoboria, PhD, CPsych
Interviewing witnesses and victims
Problem statement: more kids appearing in court
Shift to relying upon childrens’ report
The interviewer’s dilemma
Obtain available accurate information, while minimizing acquisition of distorted or fabricated information.
Consequences if things go poorly
Erroneous information Wasted time Invalidated witness Miscarriages of justice
Consequences if things go well
Increased confidence in information Witnesses more likely to withstand
cross-examination Justice is well-served
Effective interviews
Emphasize free recall Minimize suggestion Avoid misleading questioning
Young children
Free recall = underreporting Pulls for additional questioning
The quantity / accuracy trade-off
Forced responding Free responding
Individual has the freedom to refuse to respond, express ignorance, or to say “I don’t know”
The quantity / accuracy trade-off
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
1 2 3 4 5 6
Accuracy Output
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
1 2 3 4 5 6
Correct Incorrect
Don’t know responses
Why are DK responses desirable? Reflect monitoring of knowledge Willingness to admit limits of
knowledge Ability to resist pressure
“In experimental tasks, or real-life interviews, it is rare to see subjects, of any age, being told that they do not have to give an answer to a question.” Moston, 1987, p69
What to do with DK responses?
Ignore them, move on may lose access to information
Restate the question, push for more may pressure responses, promote
guessing, even suggest answers Investigate the response
Handling DK responses in interviews
Force responses? Encourage? Discourage?
Handling DK responses in interviews
In testing situations, forced responding may be desirable
Mondak and Davis, 2002
Handling DK responses in interviews
Forced responding promotes guessing
Koriat, Goldsmith, Schneider, & Nakash-Dura, 2001Roebers, Moga & Schneider, 2001
Children and DK responding
Younger children tend to underutilize DK responses
Geiselman & Padilla, 1988Cassel, Roebers & Bjorklund, 1996Roebers & Schneider, 2000
Children and DK responding
Children can improve monitoring Accuracy motivation enhances use of
DK responses and improves accuracy. Effectiveness generally follows
developmental lines.
Koriat, Goldsmith, Schneider & Nakash-Dura (2001)Roebers, Moga & Schneider (2001)
Children and DK responding
Developmental trajectory < about age 6; low spontaneous
production > age 7, many of the concepts are in
place, use improves dramatically > age 9/10, often perform very similar
to adults
Children and DK responding
Encouraging DK responding Risk of “DK response set”
Moston, 1987
Children and DK responding
Simple instructions – mixed results; more effective with adults
Complex instructions – more effective with children
Mulder & Vrij, 1996; Nesbitt & Markham, 1999
Children and DK responding
Informational influence May view interview as a test for which
the interviewers has the answers
Mulder & Vrij, 1996Waterman, Blades & Spenser, 2004Malian & Scoboria, in progress
Children and DK responding
Question types and DK responding y/n, closed ended – lower DK
responding Wh-, open ended – higher DK
responding
Peterson, Dowdin & Tobin, 1999Peterson & Grant, 2001Waterman, Blades & Spenser, 2001
Answerable vs. Unanswerable questions
Enhanced risk of speculation to leading unanswerable questions y/n closed ended questions Leading questions may operate by
implying that an answer is available A leading question about something
that is unknown is misleading
DK statements and communication
Substantive responses Admitting ignorance I never saw that I might have seen that, but I can’t
remember the specific details
DK statements and communication
Choosing not to respond
DK statements and communication
Unwillingness to respond Exert power within interview Avoid self-implication Lying by omission
Yes, it is more complex
DK responses when witnesses have been coached
DK responses after multiple interviews, or previous poor interviews
DK responses as costs to interviewee increase (i.e., parent is suspect)
DK responses in suspects
Limitations of the research literature
No work on DK responses in developmentally delayed children
No work on meaning of DK responses in children
Implications of exploring DK responses not well understood
Naturalistic studies are needed
Take home points
Accepting DK responses appears essential
Encouraging them appears advisable
Balancing encouraging / discouraging DK responses is challenging
Take home points
Children ages 9-10+ frequently use DK effectively
Children ages 6-8 often demonstrate monitoring ability
Children < 6 often show poorer monitoring ability
Take home points
Attend to informational influence (what the interviewer “knows”)
Avoiding question types which undermine use of DK responses
Using developmentally appropriate language
Acknowledgements
Lisa Dadd Stephanie Fisico Mark Frey Amanda Harris Irving Kirsch Giuliana Mazzoni Julie Malian Chris Reid Hoa Trang
Funding sources
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
University of Windsor
Contact information
Alan ScoboriaAssociate Professor of PsychologyDepartment of Psychology401 SunsetWindsor, ON, Canada N9B3P4email: [email protected]: 001-519-253-3000 x4090
