Science-Based Protocol for Interviewing Children

Thursday, Oct. 3, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

Gardiner Centre, Signal Hill

Learn the National Institute of Child and Human Development Protocol for Child Interviewing

As part of many professions (e.g., educators, pediatric medicine and health care, social work, daycares, youth care facilities, child-focused business owners, etc.) and social activities (e.g., coaching sports, scouts, girl guides, etc.), adults may be required to talk to children about things that have happened to them, or things that they witnessed. Although topics of conversation range from benign to consequential, it is important for adults to understand child cognition, language, and social norms if they wish to gather high-quality information needed to make good decisions. A central part of obtaining good information from a child involves following a systematic process that explains the interview process to the child, builds rapports, checks the ability of the child to engage in the interview process, and follows science-based, child-specific questioning practices.

In this two-day course, participants will be taught to conduct interviews with children using the National Institute of Child and Human Development protocol. The NICHD is a structured protocol that (a) contains science-based practices for interviewing children and (b) helps adults avoid the common errors that prevent children from providing good quality information. This protocol has been validated on over 40,000 child interviews and has been proven to enhance child interviewing practices and outcomes. This course uses participant activities (e.g., evaluating child interviews) to improve understanding of the information presented and to provide the opportunity to practice the protocol.

Key Learning Outcomes

Understand child memory, language, social norms
Avoid practices that suggest answers/information
Ask effective, child-specific questions
Establish interview expectations and foundations
Build rapport
Train a child to recall episodic memory
Transition to a conversation about a substantive issue
Structure a child interview
Increase the completeness of an account
Evaluate and provide feedback on child interviewing performance

Presented by Gardiner Centre

Event Listing 2024-10-03 8:30:00 2024-10-03 16:00:00 America/St_Johns Science-Based Protocol for Interviewing Children Learn the National Institute of Child and Human Development Protocol for Child Interviewing As part of many professions (e.g., educators, pediatric medicine and health care, social work, daycares, youth care facilities, child-focused business owners, etc.) and social activities (e.g., coaching sports, scouts, girl guides, etc.), adults may be required to talk to children about things that have happened to them, or things that they witnessed. Although topics of conversation range from benign to consequential, it is important for adults to understand child cognition, language, and social norms if they wish to gather high-quality information needed to make good decisions. A central part of obtaining good information from a child involves following a systematic process that explains the interview process to the child, builds rapports, checks the ability of the child to engage in the interview process, and follows science-based, child-specific questioning practices. In this two-day course, participants will be taught to conduct interviews with children using the National Institute of Child and Human Development protocol. The NICHD is a structured protocol that (a) contains science-based practices for interviewing children and (b) helps adults avoid the common errors that prevent children from providing good quality information. This protocol has been validated on over 40,000 child interviews and has been proven to enhance child interviewing practices and outcomes. This course uses participant activities (e.g., evaluating child interviews) to improve understanding of the information presented and to provide the opportunity to practice the protocol. Key Learning Outcomes Understand child memory, language, social norms Avoid practices that suggest answers/information Ask effective, child-specific questions Establish interview expectations and foundations Build rapport Train a child to recall episodic memory Transition to a conversation about a substantive issue Structure a child interview Increase the completeness of an account Evaluate and provide feedback on child interviewing performance Gardiner Centre, Signal Hill Gardiner Centre