How do capacity and credibility differ?

• A. Capacity refers to decision-making ability; credibility is about trustworthiness of testimony.
• B. Capacity and credibility are the same thing.
• C. Capacity refers to legal status; credibility refers to physical health.
• D. Capacity determines if one can testify in court.

Answer: (A)

Capacity is about a person’s ability to understand, reason, and make decisions or participate in the process. In the context of testimony, it means having the mental competence to understand questions, the oath, and the implications of giving evidence. Credibility, on the other hand, is about how trustworthy or believable a person’s testimony is once they speak—based on consistency, reliability, memory, and potential biases.

Choosing the option that links capacity to decision-making ability and credibility to the trustworthiness of what is said captures this distinction clearly. The other choices mix up the concepts: capacity is not simply about legal status or physical health, and while capacity can affect whether someone is allowed to testify, it does not define the believability of their statements.