7th iIIRG Annual Conference 2014

1. 7th iIIRG Annual Conference 2014 Indicators of metacognition and theory of mind as display in children`s narratives during forensic investigations Carmit Katz and Eti Tal Tel Aviv University, Israel

2. Background • When trying to better understand children’s cognitive abilities in the forensic context, their metacognition and development of theory of mind are key concepts that need to be further explored

3. The current study The aims of the current study are to assess: • How often children produced indicators of metacognition and theory of mind • The effects of age and gender on the indicators production • The effects of prompt type on indicators production

4. Sample characteristics The inclusion criterions in the current study were: • The children provided allegations with respect to the alleged abuse • Hebrew was the children`s mother tongue language • No developmental disabilities of the children were reported • External evidence (e.g., suspect admission; medical evidence)

5. Sample characteristics • 16 boys and 43 girls • Aged 4 to 14 (M=9.78, SD=2.86) • 59 cases of single incidents of sexual abuse by a suspect who is a stranger to the children • All the interviews were conducted by 25 well-trained investigative interviewers • The NICHD Protocol

6. Coding: Metacognition indicators Source monitoring: when the child displays ability to identify between different sources of information in his narratives, for example: “I did not see that he touched my vagina I just felt it”, “I did not see him following me, my friend told it to me later” Self correction: when the child initiates the correction of his narrative, for example: “he touched my vagina…wait I told that his first touch was in my vagina but it was the second touch the first was in my bottom”

7. Coding: Metacognition indicators Interviewer correction: when the child corrects the interviewer intervention, suggested content, for example: Interviewer: “you said that he touched you on your bottom, tell me more about it” Child: “not on my bottom, in my bottom” Clarification: when the child indicates that he does not understand the interviewer demand. It can be explicit: “I do not understand what are you saying”, or implicit: “do you mean that time where..”

8. Coding: Theory of mind indicators Understanding of me: when the child elaborates on his perception (emotion or thought) during the incident, for example: ”I did not move because I was afraid that he will kill me” Understanding of other : when the child elaborates on the suspect or other witnesses in the incident perceptions, for example: ”I thought he is really upset with me because his face were red”

9. Results: How often children displayed indicators of metacognition

10. Results: How often children displayed indicators of theory of mind

11. Results: The effect of age on metacognition indicators *F (2,56)= 4.11, p<0.02, µ2 =0.13

12. Results: The effect of gender on metacognition indicators

13. Results: The effect of age on theory of mind indicators *F (2,56)= 8.09, p<0.001, µ2 =0.22

14. Results: The effect of gender on theory of mind indicators *F (1,57)= 4.01, p<0.05, µ2 =0.06

15. Results: The effect of prompt type on source monitoring F (3,56)= 21.85, p<0.000, µ2 =0.54

16. Results: The effect of prompt type on self correction F (3,56)= 11.98, p<0.000, µ2 =0.39

17. Results: The effect of prompt type on clarification F (3,56)= 17.52, p<0.000, µ2 =0.48

18. Results: The effect of prompt type on understanding of me F (3,56)= 27.75, p<0.000, µ2 =0.59

19. Results: The effect of prompt type on understanding of other F (3,56)= 21.71, p<0.000, µ2 =0.54

20. Conclusions • The contribution of open-ended prompts to metacognition and theory of mind during forensic investigation • Future studies: Further exploration of age and other variables effects Relevancy to credibility assessment