T06-P-01 A novel lie detection technique in the assessment of testimony of sexual assault

Abstract

Aims We propose a new procedure for the assessment of abused children in the forensic setting, presenting two real cases. Our procedure is composed of two parts: the evaluation of the children's credibility and the use of a new instrument to assess the implicit memory of the children of the abuse (the Forensic-Implicit Association Test). Methods The evaluation of children's credibility is composed of: • a neuropsychological assessment (language, memory, attention and executive functions); • specific aspects of testimony: language (comprehension of absurd stories); memory (autobiographical memory and confabulation); distinction of true and false statements; suggestibility; • evaluation of personality; • evaluation of children's credibility (CBCA). The second part of the procedure is based on the administration of the F-IAT, a test which investigates the implicit memory. We developed a novel variant of the Implicit Association Test, originally used to assess concepts associations, which shows that individuals have a clearly detectable pattern of associations regarding real events, and that this patternpattern can be distinguished by the pattern exhibited for invented events. Results The first case regards three brothers. The two younger brothers were raped by their father while the older only assisted the scenes. All of them were considered believable. The second case regards a 15 year old girl. She refers to be abused by her father. She was found not being credible. Conclusions We propose a valid procedure for assessment of minor victims of sexual assaults.