Article,
Suggestibility of children's memory: Psycholegal implications.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 116 (1): 38--49 (1987)
DOI: 10.1037//0096-3445.116.1.38
Abstract
Examined the psychological mechanisms responsible for suggestibility in the accounts of young children in 4 experiments. Exp I examined whether 182 children (aged 3–12 yrs) were susceptible to misleading postevent information. Results indicate that young children (3- and 4-yr olds) are particularly vulnerable to suggestion. The subsequent experiments focused on this age range and the basis for their susceptibility to misleading postevent information. Exp II, with 102 Ss (mean age 4.6 yrs) found that Ss' susceptibility to misleading information was reduced when another child, as opposed to an adult, provided the misleading information. Therefore, suggestibility effects in children arise in part from a desire to conform to the wishes of an adult authority figure. Exps III and IV tested 2 competing hypotheses as to how postevent suggestions distort children's memories using a total of 175 preschoolers. Data indicate that postevent suggestions can in fact distort memory. Results from these 4 experiments are discussed within the context of children's eyewitness memory and the associated psycholegal implications. (66 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)
