**4. Conclusions**

In this chapter, we reviewed aspects of cognitive development that are most relevant to child witnesses and, to some extent, child suspects in the criminal and juvenile justice systems. The findings above highlight the areas of concern with any witness – but particularly child witnesses. Yet, their implications are not uniform. In fact, the implications of children's cognitive development in forensic situations are likely to vary as a function of a variety of factors, including the type of witness and case involved, as a child's credibility may be dependent on assessments of their trustworthiness and competence. Children who are perceived as lacking competence for a variety of reasons are likely to be considered lacking in credibility. However, this effect is likely more pronounced in some types of cases than in others. Cases requiring strong memory for detailed information that was experienced only once might demand a higher expectation for cognitive ability than a case of child neglect by a well-known caregiver. Similarly, a child's trustworthiness is likely impacted by the type of case, with some arguing that in child sexual abuse cases, honesty is more salient than cognitive abilities – and that perceived suggestibility likely impacts perceptions of the child's honesty in such cases (Connolly et al., 2010). The type of child witness is important as well. Children with intellectual disabilities might be more vulnerable to suggestion as witnesses. Children who are defendants in the juvenile justice system are at higher risk of suffering from both cognitive deficits and mental illness, making them particularly susceptible to suggestion and false confession. At the same time, one's identity as a defendant likely raises more questions about trustworthiness than when one is a child witness.

Despite many of the risks for child witnesses, however, and the poor fit between children's cognitive development and the justice system, it is clear that children are capable of participating accurately and effectively as witnesses. They often partake in family court decision-making, provide evidence in eyewitness identification cases, and testify against their assailants in child abuse cases. There is a great deal still to be learned about important cognitive factors, such as whether there are means of improving younger children's source monitoring skills, how to improve children's eyewitness identification accuracy when the perpetrator is not present in a lineup, and how to help children resist misleading questions and suggestions. More needs to be learned about the impact of emotion on children's eyewitness memory and recall as well. Perhaps the growing research on the neural correlates of children's memory will further our understanding and allow for greater forensic sensitivity to child witness strengths and vulnerabilities. These and other results, it is hoped, will contribute to more effective interviewing, testimony and treatment of child witnesses.

## **Author details**

94 Current Topics in Children's Learning and Cognition

is discouraged (Poole et al., 2011).

**4. Conclusions** 

a child witness.

Part of the reason for the dolls' ineffectiveness with very young children could be children's immature representational abilities (DeLoache, 2000). That is, young children may have difficulty perceiving the doll as a representation or symbol of themselves and acting on it as such. They might also have difficulty ignoring the dolls' salient, play-like qualities and

More recent efforts have focused on the use of body diagrams – pictures – to assist children in reporting abuse allegations. Although pictures seem less challenging for children to use as symbols, concern remains about their suggestiveness (Poole et al., 2011). Specifically, as with dolls, use of the diagrams seems to increase false reports of bodily touch, even among school-aged children (Poole & Dickinson, 2011). Further, their use seems to lead interviewers away from recommended, open-ended questioning styles toward more leading, specific questions (Aldridge et al., 2004; Poole et al., 2011). Finally, their use does not seem to enhance children's disclosures or lead to greater elaboration of their reports (Bruck, 2009). Thus, these symbolic interview aids seem to be suggestive, particularly for young children who might not be capable of using them symbolically, and their forensic use

In this chapter, we reviewed aspects of cognitive development that are most relevant to child witnesses and, to some extent, child suspects in the criminal and juvenile justice systems. The findings above highlight the areas of concern with any witness – but particularly child witnesses. Yet, their implications are not uniform. In fact, the implications of children's cognitive development in forensic situations are likely to vary as a function of a variety of factors, including the type of witness and case involved, as a child's credibility may be dependent on assessments of their trustworthiness and competence. Children who are perceived as lacking competence for a variety of reasons are likely to be considered lacking in credibility. However, this effect is likely more pronounced in some types of cases than in others. Cases requiring strong memory for detailed information that was experienced only once might demand a higher expectation for cognitive ability than a case of child neglect by a well-known caregiver. Similarly, a child's trustworthiness is likely impacted by the type of case, with some arguing that in child sexual abuse cases, honesty is more salient than cognitive abilities – and that perceived suggestibility likely impacts perceptions of the child's honesty in such cases (Connolly et al., 2010). The type of child witness is important as well. Children with intellectual disabilities might be more vulnerable to suggestion as witnesses. Children who are defendants in the juvenile justice system are at higher risk of suffering from both cognitive deficits and mental illness, making them particularly susceptible to suggestion and false confession. At the same time, one's identity as a defendant likely raises more questions about trustworthiness than when one is

Despite many of the risks for child witnesses, however, and the poor fit between children's cognitive development and the justice system, it is clear that children are capable of

unique features to use it as a symbol instead (DeLoache, 2000; Poole et al., 2011).

Daisy A. Segovia and Angela M. Crossman *John Jay College and the Graduate Center, Cuny, USA* 

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**Chapter 6** 

© 2012 Amaral et al., licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

**Beyond the Black-and-White of Autism:** 

Joseph L. Amaral, Susan Collins, Kevin T. Bohache and Heidi Kloos

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/53937

**1. Introduction** 

task context.

**How Cognitive Performance Varies with Context** 

A child's cognitive performance can vary considerably from one task context to the next, even when only small details of the task are changed. Such context dependence has given rise to a new way of looking at the underlying processes of children's thinking (e.g. Smith, Thelen, Titzer, & McLin, 1999; Spencer, Thomas, & McClelland, 2009). Rather than attributing performance to a particular competence (or a lack thereof), performance is attributed to a synergy between the actor and environment, highly sensitive to even seemingly irrelevant details of the task context. Though not complete, this view makes it possible to map out how changes in the context could be harnessed to bring about changes in a child's behavior. The current chapter looks at whether the same view can be applied to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A first step in this direction is to explore the extent to which cognitive performance in ASD is affected by apparently irrelevant variations of the

Autism spectrum disorder comprises of a cluster of disorders that include Autistic Disorder (also known as "classic" autism), Asperger's Syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Though there are important differences between these sub-groups, they share a common set of general symptoms that arise early in a child's life: ASD is characterized by pronounced social difficulties and communication impairment, along with restricted, repetitive behaviors or interests (APA, 2000). In particular, children often demonstrate atypical eye contact, a lack of verbal speech or atypical language use, odd mannerisms such as arm flapping, and narrow, obsessive interests (e.g.: an encyclopedic knowledge of former U.S.

Importantly, despite extensive research into ASD, no causal factors have been isolated so far. For example, even though the patters of neurological activity show numerous

Secretaries of the Interior; Klinger, Dawson, & Renner, 2003).

