Abstract Epistemologists of testimony have focused almost exclusively on the epistemic dynamics simple testimony. We do sometimes testify by ways simple, single sentence assertions. But much our is narratively structured. I argue that narrative gives rise to a form dependence far richer and more reaching than characteristic

a 4 : 1 pp. 27 – 43, 2008 TESTIMONY, TRANSMISSION, AND SAFETY

In trials witnesses often slant their testimony in order to advance their own interests. To obtain truthful testimony, the law relies on cross-examination under threat of prosecution for perjury. We show that perjury law is an imperfect truth-revealing mechanism. More importantly, we develop a perfect truth-revealing mechanism. Under this mechanism the witness is sanctioned if a court eventuall...

The present research investigated the nature of the inferences and decisions young children make about informants with a prior history of inaccuracies. Across three experiments, 3- and 4-year-olds (total N = 182) reacted to previously inaccurate informants who offered testimony in an object-labeling task. Of central interest was children's willingness to accept information provided by an inaccu...

Because much of what children learn extends beyond their first-hand experience, they are reliant upon the testimony of others to acquire information about aspects of the world they have not experienced directly. Here we asked whether testimony alone would be sufficient to induce cognitive biases in knowledge attribution that have been observed when children acquire information through direct ob...