ABSTRACT

When children are asked to describe what they have seen, heard, or experienced, they bring their limitations along with their capabilities to the task. Adults who rely on children’s answers must come to grips with the imperfections and inadequacies, as well as the merits and utility, of children’s reports. Some research findings appear to condemn children’s reports, others champion their competencies. One way to understand this inconsistency is to align the studies along a continuum.