NCJ Number
236496
Journal
Police Science & Management Volume: 13 Issue: 3 Dated: Autumn 2011 Pages: 234-242
Date Published
2011
Length
9 pages
Annotation
The aim of the current study was to examine children's accuracy in providing estimates of event frequency that were numerical (that is, 1, 2, 3, . . .) and qualitative (that is, once, a few times, or many times).
Abstract
Although it is extremely important when interviewing children about alleged abuse to determine whether the abuse was a single or a repeated occurrence, the authors have little information about how children judge the frequency of events. Younger (4- to 5-year-old) and older (6- to 8-year-old) children took part in a single event or an event that was repeated 6 or 11 times. They were interviewed after a short or long delay; some were interviewed a second time. Overall, children were very accurate at judging the frequency of a single event, but much less so for repeated events. Based on the study findings, the authors make two recommendations for professionals trying to establish the frequency of events when interviewing young children. (Published Abstract)