THE USE OF DOLLS TO INTERVIEW YOUNG-CHILDREN - ISSUES OF SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION

A very common practice in the investigation of suspected sexual abuse is to use anatomically detailed dolls to interview children. The use o f such dolls is particularly advocated for very young children. For a doll to be useful, however, children must accept and use it as a repre sentation of themselves. Our previous research on 2- and 3-year-old ch ildren's understanding of symbolic objects led us to hypothesize that such very young children might have difficulty understanding and using a doll as a self-representation. In the study reported here, 2-1/2, 3 -, and 4-year-old children played some games with an experimenter, and they were interviewed immediately afterward. The children did, as exp ected, have difficulty using the doll as a self-representation and map ping from themselves to the doll. As a consequence, they provided more correct information in their direct (verbal and nonverbal) responses to the interviewer's questions than they demonstrated on the doll. Imp lications and limitations of this research are discussed with respect to interviewing young children. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.