ABSTRACT
Children age of 5, recognize letters and sounds, write their names and simple words, and begin to read independently and ask for the meanings of abstract terms. They begin to distinguish the past from the future, but they remain very concrete and very anchored in the present. At age of 12, children are also egocentric, which means they have difficulty anticipating or seeing reality from other people’s perspectives. From the age of 11 or 12 and up to 16, children begin to perform hypothetico-deductive reasoning and establish abstract relationships. Adolescents present many challenges for investigators. Indeed, they are often intimidated, more often feel guilty, and are ashamed of the situations in which they find themselves, thus making their disclosure more difficult. Because their abilities are not yet those of adults, their sometimes partial or inconsistent narratives arouse suspicion and are sometimes interpreted as a sign that they are making false allegations.
