NCJ Number
103300
Journal
Law and Human Behavior Volume: 10 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1986) Pages: 317-332
Date Published
1986
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study examined the abilities of adults, 6-year-olds, and 3-year-olds to recall events and identify an unfamiliar person after a 5-minute interaction with the person.
Abstract
Four or 5 days after the incident, the sample -consisting of 16 adults, sixteen 6-year-olds, and sixteen 3-year-olds -answered objective and suggestive questions about the incident and attempted to identify the person from a photo lineup. The adults and 6-year-olds did not differ in their ability to answer objective questions or identify the person, but 6-year-olds were more suggestible than adults and recalled less about the incident. Compared to the older age groups, the 3-year-olds answered fewer objective questions correctly, recalled little about the event, and identified the person less frequently. They were also the most suggestible. The poor performance of the 3-year-olds may have been due to limited ability to encode, organize, and retain the stimuli of events and engage in the mental reconstruction of a stranger's face. Their poor memory may have also been related to the heightened stress they displayed in interacting with a strange adult. Interview techniques may have been flawed as well. The relative competence of 6-year-olds argues against the requirement of a competence examination for children this age and older. 54 references and appended questions asked of the subjects.