Accuracy and Suggestibility of Children's Memory for Neutral and Criminal Eyewitness Events

• NCJ Number: 177175
• Journal: Legal and Criminological Psychology Volume: 4 (February 1999) Issue: Dated: Pages: 79-92
• Author(s): J E Ochsner; M S Zaragoza; K J Mitchell
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 14 pages
• Grant Number(s): MH 43581
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This study assesses whether young children's eyewitness performance following a criminal event would differ from their performance following a neutral event.

Abstract

The accuracy and suggestibility of 30 first-grade children who witnessed a staged event that culminated in a purse theft were compared to those of 30 first graders who witnessed the same event, but without the theft. Children who viewed the theft were more accurate on various measures of recall and recognition than children who viewed the neutral event. On the other hand, children who viewed the theft were not always less suggestible than children who witnessed the neutral event. Taken together, the results suggest that studies of neutral eyewitness situations are likely to underestimate children's memory performance in criminal eyewitness situations. Note, tables, references, appendix