Ls. Snyder et De. Lindstedt, CHILDRENS COURTROOM NARRATIVES - COMPETENCE, CREDIBILITY, AND THE COMMUNICATIVE CONTRACT, Topics in language disorders, 15(4), 1995, pp. 16-29
This article addresses the manner in which the communicative contract
is executed within the narrative recount context of the courtroom. The
ways in which courtroom narratives can violate commonly held communic
ative assumptions, such as the conversational postulates of sincerity
and information, are discussed as well as the ways in which these may
affect the perceived competence and credibility of child witnesses. Th
e effects of children's development of comprehension monitoring skills
and a theory of mind on their ability to give competent eyewitness te
stimony are also examined.