Complex language and comprehension monitoring: Teaching child witnesses torecognize linguistic confusion

The authors investigated the efficacy of 2 child witness preparation progra ms: task demand training (TDT) and comprehension-monitoring training (CMT) with task demand training (CMT + TDT). Preschool (M = 60.8 months), kinderg arten (M = 76.0 months) and 2nd-grade (M = 98.1 months) children participat ed. All children participated in either TDT (n = 56), or TDT + CMT (n = 43) . After training, participants were interviewed about a video they watched. Questions contained either simple or complex language. Results suggest TDT + CMT better prepares witnesses of all ages for complex-language questions . When faced with complex-language questions, the TDT + CMT group averaged more requests for rephrasings than the TDT group. These data suggest even t he very young children in this investigation benefited from the court prepa ration protocol including TDT and CMT.