PSYC 3020 Chapter 6: CHAPTER 6.docx

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 3020
• Professor: Dan Yarmey

Document Summary

Reviews from early twentieth century europe seemed to conclude that young children were highly suggestible and had difficulty separating fact from fantasy, and thus were capable of providing inaccurate testimony, even if the testimony was of personal significance. Studies have found that children are capable of accurately recalling forensically relevant details of events. The challenge, of course, is determining when children are recalling accurately and when they are fabricating (i. e. making false claims). Research suggests that the accuracy of children"s reporting is highly dependent on how they are asked to report. When children are asked to report all they can remember, using free narrative approach, their accuracy in reporting is comparable with that of adults. When children are asked leading, direct questions, they are more likely to produce an erroneous response than when they are asked nonleading, direct questions. Older children are more resistant to leading questions than are younger children, and adults are even more resistant to leading questions.