Journal article
Children’s eyewitness memory: A comparison of two interviewing strategies as realized by forensic professionals
Journal of experimental child psychology, v 105(3), pp 156-177
01 Mar 2010
PMID: 19969304
Abstract
A critical issue for developmental psychology is how to obtain accurate and complete eyewitness memory reports from preschoolers without offering suggestions that might result in false allegations. We examined effects of two interviewing strategies (police/verbal interviews and clinician/prop-assisted interviews) on young children’s reports about a medical examination. A total of 58 4-year-olds participated in the study, which conformed to a 2 (Interview Type)
×
2 (Number of Interviews) factorial design. Analyses revealed that interviewers spent less time off topic and asked more free recall questions in the police/verbal interviews than in the clinician/prop-assisted interviews. Compared with police/verbal interviews, clinician/prop-assisted interviews resulted in significantly more correct rejections and commission errors in children’s memory reports. However, on a final free recall test, error rates were comparable across conditions. Higher child verbal intelligence predicted memory accuracy in police/verbal interviews, and greater parental attachment anxiety predicted children being asked a higher number of misleading questions. The study provides new insights into interview techniques that promote preschoolers’ accurate eyewitness reports.
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Details
- Title
- Children’s eyewitness memory: A comparison of two interviewing strategies as realized by forensic professionals
- Creators
- Annika Melinder - University of OsloKristen Alexander - California State University, SacramentoYoung Il Cho - University of California, DavisGail S. Goodman - University of California, DavisChristian Thoresen - University of OsloKyrre Lonnum - University of OsloSvein Magnussen - University of Oslo
- Publication Details
- Journal of experimental child psychology, v 105(3), pp 156-177
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000275567400001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-75449117272
- Other Identifier
- 991020547449504721
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Psychology, Developmental
- Psychology, Experimental