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Young Children's Competency to Take the Oath: Effects of Task, Maltreatment, and Age

Thomas D. Lyon, University of Southern California
Nathalie Carrick, University of California, Irvine
J A. Quas, University of California, Irvine

Article comments

In press, Law & Human Behavior. This paper can be downloaded at http://works.bepress.com/thomaslyon/62/

The full text of this version of the article is not currently available online.

Abstract

This study examined maltreated and non-maltreated children’s (N = 183) emerging understanding of “truth” and “lie,” terms about which they are quizzed in order to qualify as competent to testify. Four- to six-year-old children were asked to accept or reject true and false (T/F) statements, label T/F statements as the “truth” or “a lie,” label T/F statements as “good” or “bad,” and label “truth” and “lie” as “good” or “bad.” The youngest children were at ceiling in accepting/rejecting T/F statements. The labeling tasks revealed improvement with age and children performed similarly across the tasks. Most children were better able to evaluate “truth” than “lie.” Maltreated children exhibited somewhat different response patterns, suggesting greater sensitivity to the immorality of lying.

Subject Area

Criminal Law and Procedure, Domestic Relations, Evidence, Juveniles, Psychology and Psychiatry

Recommended Citation

Thomas D. Lyon, Nathalie Carrick, and J A. Quas, "Young Children's Competency to Take the Oath: Effects of Task, Maltreatment, and Age" (May 2009). University of Southern California. University of Southern California Legal Studies Working Paper Series. Working Paper 42.
http://law.bepress.com/usclwps/lss/art42

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