The competency of children as eye witnesses : the effect question order has on the accuracy of recall.
Year: 1996
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The child's role as an eye witness has received a great deal of attention over the last decade. \nThe current debate regarding the competence and credibility of child witnesses is being \naddressed by both the Legal and Psychological fields. \nThis research focuses on establishing if a relationship exists between the order of the questions \nand the accuracy of recall. Children aged six and seven were questioned using a variety of \nprotocols about an incident which they had witnessed. \nThe research question is discussed within the broad theoretical area of children as eye \nwitnesses. Highlighted is the burgeoning research in the area, which evidences conceptual \nconfusion and conflicting results. The processes involved in memory, encoding and retrieval \nare discussed in relation to the broader area. \nFactors affecting reliability such as suggestibility and vulnerability of the child as a witness \nare discussed: Methods of interviewing children are investigated within a developmental \nframework. Suggestions are made as to how the reliability of children's testimony may be \nenhanced by the interviewing process. \nThe results of this study indicated that the order in which questions were asked did not have \na significant effect on the accuracy of recall of this sample of children aged six and seven. \nThe limitations of this study were noted and a descriptive account of the children's responses \nwas discussed. This discussion concludes that a need for further research still exists in this \narea. In addition particular emphasis should be directed towards how children, within the \nbroader context of the interviewing process, respond so that future research may produce more \nrich and reliable information about child witnesses.
Author: Margaret. Birkett
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1535380198