Date of Award
1998
Degree Name
Psychology
College
College of Liberal Arts
Type of Degree
M.A.
Document Type
Thesis
First Advisor
Stephen O'Keefe
Abstract
This study examined kindergarten children's (N=18) eyewitness reports and the effects of suggestive questioning. Five- and six year- olds were interviewed repeatedly after a visitor came to their classroom in one of the following conditions: (a) suggestion, which received misleading suggestive questioning one time per week for three consecutive weeks following the incident, and a final 2 interview fifteen weeks after the incident; (b) increased suggestion, which received false suggestive interviews one time per week for three consecutive weeks following the event, and a final interview fifteen weeks after the initial event; and (c) triple suggestion, which received misleading suggestive questioning three times per week for three consecutive weeks and a final interview fifteen weeks after the initial incident. Results show that all groups began the initial interview making a relatively high number of errors which gradually increased, tapered off, and drastically decreased by the final interview. The error rate by the time of the final interview was far below that of the initial interview for all groups. Results indicate that misleading and false suggestive questions as well as increased interviews do not significantly effect children's ability to recall details accurately. The treatments may, in fact, improve children's memory for events.
Subject(s)
Questioning.
Child witnesses -- Effects of suggestion on.
Examination of witnesses.
Recommended Citation
Scott-Moore, Rosemary Corinne, "Children's memory : the effects of suggestive questioning on the eyewitness reports of five and six year old students" (1998). Theses, Dissertations and Capstones. 2080.
https://mds.marshall.edu/etd/2080
