Children's acquiescence to implied coaching questions: Transgressions, disclosure veracity, and parental support

Abstract

Questions that imply coaching can be problematic for children as they may fail to recognize the implied meaning of the question. In the current study, 181 7- to 10-year-olds were read vignettes where an adult either committed a transgression or not, a child truthfully or falsely reported the incident, and the mother was either supportive or unsupportive. Participants were then asked implied coaching questions (e.g., “Did the mom help the girl remember?”). Children sometimes acquiesced to implied coaching questions, and this increased when asked questions that more subtly implied coaching. Whereas all children were more likely to affirm coaching when the parent offered support following a truthful report, older children also affirmed coaching when the parent offered a lack of support following a lie, suggesting that it is the consistency of the parents support with the veracity of the child's report that influences children's acquiescence to implied coaching questions.