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Contextual cues and the accuracy
of children's disclosure
Michael Keenan, Christina
Fairhurst, Karola Dillenburger and Attracta McGlinchey
University of Ulster
at Coleraine and The Queen's University, Northern Ireland.
Using procedures developed within
the stimulus equivalence paradigm, this paper explores the effect
of training contextual cues to ensure that previous social experiences
are accurately reported. Eight 6-9 year-olds were exposed to
verifiable social experiences and then trained to respond to
arbitrary contextual cues. Conditions 1 - 3 began with a
role-play in the laboratory. In Condition 1 two contextual cues
were established; selecting arbitrary stimulus "*"
in the presence of pictures depicting unusual activities in the
role-play was reinforced, while selecting arbitrary stimulus
"!" in the presence of other
role-play stimuli was reinforced. Condition 2 tested the stability
of the contextual cues. In Condition 3, differential verbal accounts
in the presence of contextual cues were trained;
accurate disclosure was reinforced in the presence of "*",
while inaccurate disclosure was
reinforced in the presence of "!". Using these contextual
cues, children were tested in Condition 4 for accurate and inaccurate
reporting of a role-play that took place home. All subjects achieved
100% correct responses in Conditions 1 - 3. Four of the eight
subjects obtained perfect performance in Condition 4, whereas
the remaining subjects scored between 67% and 94%. Findings are
discussed in the context of child abuse.
Keywords: contextual cue, role-play,
child abuse |