Tom Lyon

Judge Edward J. and Ruey L. Guirado Chair in Law and PsychologyUSC Gould School of Law

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tlyon@law.usc.edu
Work: (213) 740-0142
Fax: (213) 740-5502
699 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90089-0074 USA Room: 408
Personal Website: http://works.bepress.com/thomaslyon/

last updated Thu, May 2, 2013

Thomas D. Lyon’s research interests include child witnesses, child maltreatment and domestic violence. He teaches courses in Evidence, Law and Psychology, and Child Interviewing.

Professor Lyon is past-president of the American Psychological Association’s Section on Child Maltreatment (Division 37) and a former member of the Board of Directors of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. He has published more than 50 papers in law reviews, psychology journals and books; has authored or co-authored more than 80 research presentations at psychology and law conferences; and has conducted more than 190 trainings with judges, attorneys, law professors, social workers, psychologists and reporters. His work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the United States Department of Justice, the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, the California Endowment, and the Haynes Foundation.

A magna cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School, Professor Lyon received his Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Stanford University. He was an attorney for the Children’s Services Division of the Los Angeles County Counsel and a research associate at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center prior to joining USC Law in 1995.

A. Publications in Law Reviews

• 8. Lyon, T.D., & Dente. (forthcoming) Child witnesses and the Confrontation Clause. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology., posted (2012)

• 7. Lyon, T.D., & LaMagna, R. (2007). The history of children's hearsay: From Old Bailey to post-Davis. Indiana Law Journal, 82, 1029-1058., published (2007)

• 6. Lyon, T.D. (2002). Applying suggestibility research to the real world: The case of repeated questions. Law & Contemporary Problems, 65, 97-126., published (2002)

• 5. Lyon, T.D. (2000). Child witnesses and the oath: empirical evidence. University of Southern California Law Review, 733,1017-1074., published (2000)

• 4. Lyon, T.D. (1999). The new wave of suggestibility research: A critique. Cornell Law Review, 84, 1004-1087., published (1999)

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B. Publications in Peer-reviewed Journals

• 28. Wandrey, L., Quas, J.A., & Lyon, T.D. (2012). Does valence matter? Effects of negativity on children's early understanding of truths and lies. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 113, 295-303., posted (2012)

• 27. Lyon, T.D., Carrick, N., & Quas, J.A. (in press). Right and righteous: Children's incipient understanding of true and false statements. Journal of Cognition and Development., posted (2012)

• 26. Lyon, T.D., Scurich, N., Choi, K., Handmaker, S., & Blank, K. (in press). "How did you feel?" Increasing child sexual abuse witnesses' production of evaluative information. Law & Human Behavior., posted (2012)

• 25. Wandrey, L., Lyon, T.D., Quas, J.A., & Friedman, W.F. (in press). Maltreated children's ability to estimate temporal location and numerosity of placement changes and court visits. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law., posted (2011)

• 24. Lyon, T.D., Ahern, E.C., & Scurich, N. (in press). Interviewing children vs. tossing coins: Accurately assessing the diagnosticity of children's disclosures of abuse. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse., posted (2011)

• 23. Evans, A.D., & Lyon, T.D. (in press). Assessing children's competency to take the oath in court: The influence of question type on children's accuracy. Law & Human Behavior., posted (2011)

• 22. Ahern, E.C., Lyon, T.D., & Quas, J.A. (in press).  Young children's emerging ability to make false statements.  Developmental Psychology., posted (2010)

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C. Publications in Books

• 16. Lyon, T.D. (in press). Child witnesses and imagination: Lying, hypothetical reasoning, and referential ambiguity. In M. Taylor (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Development of Imagination. New York: Oxford., posted (2011)
  

• 15. Lyon, T.D. (2011).  Assessing the competency of child witnesses: Best practice informed by psychology and law.  In M.E. Lamb, D. La Rooy, C. Katz, & L.C. Malloy, L.C. (Eds.), Children's Testimony: A Handbook of Psychological Research and Forensic Practice.  Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press., published (2011)

• 14. Lyon, Thomas D. (in press).  Investigative interviewing of the child.  In D.N. Duquette & A.M. Haralambie (Eds.) Child Welfare Law and Practice (2d Ed.).  Denver, CO: Bradford., posted (2010)

• 13. Saywitz, K.J., Lyon, T.D., & Goodman, G.S. (in press).  Interviewing Children.  In J.E.B. Myers (Ed.), The APSAC handbook on child maltreatment (3d ed.).  Newbury Park, CA: Sage., posted (2009)

• 12. Lyon, T.D., & Ahern, E.C. (in press).  Disclosure of child sexual abuse.  In J.E.B. Myers (Ed.), The APSAC handbook on child maltreatment (3d. ed.).  Newbury Park, CA: Sage., posted (2009)

• 11. Lyon, T.D. (in press). Abuse disclosure: What adults can tell. In Bottoms, B. L., Goodman, G. S., & Najdowski, C. J. (Eds.). Child victims, child offenders: Psychology and law. New York: Guilford., published (2009)

• 10. Lyon, T.D. (2007). False denials: Overcoming methodological biases in abuse disclosure research. In M.E. Pipe, M. E. Lamb, Y. Orbach, and A.C. Cederborg (Eds.), Disclosing abuse: Delays, denials, retractions and incomplete accounts (pp. 41-62). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum., published (2007)

• 9. Lyon, T.D., & Mechanic, M.D. (2006). Domestic violence and child protection: Confronting the dilemmas in moving from family court to dependency court. In N.E. Dowd, D.G. Singer, & R.F. Wilson (Eds.), Handbook of children, culture, and violence (pp. 21-38). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage., published (2006)

• 8. Lyon, T.D. (2005). Speaking with children: Advice from investigative interviewers In P.F. Talley (Ed.), Handbook for the treatment of abused and neglected children (pp. 65-82). Binghamton, NY: Haworth. (reprinted in Lyon, T.D. (2005). Child development, competence, and credibility: The latest research. In A.G. Donnelly (Ed.), State of the Art Advocacy for Children, Youth, and Families (pp. 29-44). Denver, CO: National Association of Counsel for Children.), published (2005)

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D. Contribution to Amicus Briefs

• 3. National Association of Counsel for Children and American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children in Support of Respondent, Giles v. California (2008) (2008)

• 2. National Association of Counsel for Children in Support of Respondents. Adrian Martell Davis v. Washington, Hershel Hammon v. Indiana (2007)., published (2007)

• 1. American Psychological Association, National Association of Counsel for Children, American Professional Society on the Abuse of CHildren, and California Professional Society on the Abuse of Children in Support of Respondent. Marion R. Stogner v. California (2003)., published (2003)

E. Practitioner Guides

• 5. Ahern, E.C., & Lyon, T.D. (2011). Supplemental investigative interview questions., created (2011)

• 4. Lyon, T.D. (2007). Interviewing Children: Getting more with less (Powerpoint notes pages). Professionals who interview children can obtain a free copy of the dvd from lcoleman@law.usc.edu., posted (2009)

• 3. Lyon,T.D., & Matthews, M. (2006). Model Brief. Questioning of Child Witnesses., created (2006)

• 2. Lyon, T.D. (2005) Ten step investigative interview., created (2005)

• 1. Lyon, T.D., & Saywitz, K.J. (2000). Qualifying Children to Take the Oath: Materials for Interviewing Professionals., created (2000)

F. Short Pieces

• 11. Lyon, T.D. (2012). Twenty-five years of interviewing research and practice: Dolls, diagrams, and the dynamics of abuse disclosure. APSAC (American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children) Advisor, 24(1-2), 14-19, Posted (2012)

• 10. Lyon, T.D. (2009).  Witnesses, Children as legal.  In R.A. Shweder, T.R. Bidell, A.C. Dailey, S.D. Dixon, P.J. Miller, & J. Modell (Eds.), The child: An encyclopedic companion (pp. 1036-1039).  Chicago: University of Chicago Press., published (2009)

• 9. Lyon, T.D., Lamb, M.E., & Myers, J.E.B. (in press). [Legal and psychological support for the NICHD interviewing protocol.] Author’s response to Vieth (2008). Child Abuse & Neglect., published (2009)

• 8. Lyon, T.D. (2008). The Supreme Court, hearsay, and Crawford: Implications for child interviewers. APSAC (American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children) Advisor, 20(3-4), 2-6., published (2008)

• 7. Lyon, T.D. (2004, Spring). The Supreme Court and reluctant witnesses: Crawford v. Washington. Section on Child Maltreatment Newsletter, Division 37, American Psychological Association, 9(1), 1-2., Published (2004)

• 6. Lyon, T.D. (2004, Winter). Educating the public through the Michael Jackson case. Section on Child Maltreatment Newsletter, Division 37, American Psychological Association, 8(3), 10-11., Published (2004)

• 5. Lyon, T.D. (2002, Winter). Support persons and the child witness. Section on Child Maltreatment Newsletter, Division 37, American Psychological Association, 6(3), 5., Published (2002)

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G. Book Reviews

• 1. Lyon, T.D. (1996). The law and psychology of the child witness. (Book review of L.S. McGough (1994). Child witnesses: Fragile voices in the American legal system). Contemporary Psychology, 41, 701-702., published (1996)

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