Final answer:
True, it is essential to ask a child victim in a sex crime investigation who they have already talked to, to avoid misinformation effects and ensure the accuracy of their testimony. The reliability of child testimony is critical in legal settings, and suggestive questioning can lead to false memories.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement "An important question to ask a child victim in a sex crime investigation is 'Who have you already talked to about this?'" is indeed true. This question is critical as it can help determine the potential for memory contamination or the misinformation effect, which refers to the distortion of memory by misleading post-event information. The pioneering work of researchers like Elizabeth Loftus has shown that suggestive questioning can lead to inaccurate memories or confabulations. This is especially important in legal settings where the reliability of eyewitness testimony, particularly that of children, is crucial.
The investigation of alleged child sexual abuse cases requires trained professionals who can conduct interviews without leading or suggesting information to the child. It's also essential to establish a timeline of disclosures and any other interactions that could influence the child's memory, which is why the question of who the child has spoken to is pertinent. This approach is informed by the research of Stephen Ceci and Maggie Brucks, who demonstrated the potential for anatomically correct dolls to elicit false reports from children.