Fawcett Hannah, Winstanley Kate
Department of Psychology, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK.
Psychiatr Psychol Law. 2018 Jul 1;25(6):957-971. doi: 10.1080/13218719.2018.1482573. eCollection 2018.
This study investigated the influence of child alibi witness age and confidence upon mock juror decision making. Participants ( = 145) read a mock murder trial transcript containing the evidence of a defendant and a corroborating child alibi witness. Six versions of the trial transcript were created manipulating the alibi witness's age (8, 12, 16 years of age) and the confidence they displayed (high, low) while giving evidence. Despite a tendency towards returning not-guilty verdicts, no associations between alibi witness age, confidence and verdicts were found. However, confident alibi witnesses were perceived as more honest, accurate and reliable than unconfident alibi witnesses. The findings do not support the two-factor model of witness credibility, but do suggest that the alibi scepticism commonly found towards adult alibi witnesses may not extend as strongly towards children corroborating the defendant's alibi. More research is required before policy recommendations can be made.
本研究调查了儿童不在场证明证人的年龄和自信程度对模拟陪审员决策的影响。参与者（(n = 145)）阅读了一份模拟谋杀案审判记录，其中包含一名被告的证据以及一名佐证儿童不在场证明证人的证据。创建了六个版本的审判记录，对不在场证明证人作证时的年龄（8岁、12岁、16岁）和表现出的自信程度（高、低）进行了操控。尽管有作出无罪裁决的倾向，但未发现不在场证明证人的年龄、自信程度与裁决之间存在关联。然而，与不自信的不在场证明证人相比，自信的不在场证明证人被认为更诚实、准确和可靠。研究结果不支持证人可信度的双因素模型，但确实表明，通常对成年不在场证明证人所持的不在场证明怀疑态度，对佐证被告不在场证明的儿童可能没有那么强烈。在提出政策建议之前，还需要进行更多研究。
