Effect of interview techniques on children's eyewitness reports and subsequent memories of a viewed event

Abstract

We investigated how different ways of interviewing, i.e., free recall (FR), free recall with context reinstatement (CR), asking misleading questions (Q), or interviewing with open-ended questions (O) affect children's eyewitness reports and their subsequent memory of a viewed event. Participants were 249 eight and ten year-old children. Children were shown a video, and then were interviewed using either FR, CR, Q, or O, followed by an immediate recognition test, and a delayed recall and recognition tests several days later about the event. Results showed that O interviews elicited a greater amount of accurate information than FR, CR, and Q interviews. For older children, CR interviews elicited more accurate information than FR and Q interviews without eliciting inaccurate information. However, for younger children, the subsequent recognition memory for the event was more accurate for children who were interviewed using FR and O. These results suggest that O is the most effective way of conducting investigative interviews with children not only to elicit accurate information but also to keep their memories relatively intact.