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The effect of a suggestive interview on children’s memory of a repeated event: does it matter whether suggestions are linked to a particular incident?

Version 2 2024-06-03, 14:42
Version 1 2017-08-01, 15:38
journal contribution
posted on 2024-06-03, 14:42 authored by MB Powell, KP Roberts, Don ThomsonDon Thomson
This study examined the impact of linking misleading information to a particular occurrence of a repeated event Children aged 5‐ to 6‐years took part in the same staged event four times and 16 target details varied in each occurrence (e.g., the colour of a cloak varied each time). Three days or three weeks later they were asked questions, some of which included false information, about the final occurrence. The next day, the children were required to recall what happened in the final occurrence. Compared to children whose biasing interview was not focused on any particular occurrence of the repeated event linking the biasing interview to the final occurrence increased the number of suggested details that were reported. Interestingly, the children whose biasing interview was not focused on any occurrence were also less likely to report the false suggestions than another group of children who had only experienced the event once and whose biasing interview was linked to that single occurrence. These findings have implications for how lawyers and investigative interviewers question children about multiple incidents.

History

Journal

Psychiatry, Psychology and Law

Volume

7

Pagination

182-191

Location

Abingdon, Eng.

ISSN

1321-8719

eISSN

1934-1687

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2000, Taylor & Francis

Issue

2

Publisher

Routledge

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