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You will prepare and submit a term paper on Childrens Testimony. Your paper should be a minimum of 1500 words in length. &nbsp.At this stage, the child’s thinking is very self-centered and often cannot rationalize distinctions between their own egocentrism and the direction of adults (Wankat and Oreovicz, 2007). For instance, a child between two and seven years of age will have difficulty deducing simple adult instructions, such as an adult telling a child on a tricycle that they are moving too quickly. This instruction will generally have little meaning for the child until they actually fall over and experience pain (Wankat and Oreovicz). A child fitting this developmental category who is being considered as a potential witness will likely have difficulty communicating more than crude observations and might be more apt to try to secure their own emotional needs rather than try to please the observing jury or the interviewer. Because of the difficulties with egocentrism, poor communication skills, and lack of rationalization at this stage, the credibility of children at this age is often questioned and their testimony denied full examination.

Older children, those in Piaget’s concrete operational stage, which occurs after age seven through the age of 12, children have much better rationalization skills, can consider situations logically, and are much less self-motivated in the discussion. Credibility is often determined by the current stage of moral or intellectual development that categorizes each child and is dependent on an individual judicial assessment of their ability to communicate events using a methodology that is consistent. Children older than the age of twelve can generally think abstractly about events and think much like an adult, therefore making their potential testimony more substantial and allowable based on their more advanced intellectual capabilities and ability to function among adult social groups.