NCJ Number
104752
Editor(s)
S J Ceci,
M P Toglia,
D F Ross
Date Published
1987
Length
271 pages
Annotation
These 12 papers detail current empirical research on factors that affect children's recollections of everyday events and on the effects that child eyewitnesses have on jurors' perceptions and verdicts.
Abstract
Some papers describe research involving emotionally neutral circumstances, while others focus on memories of naturally stressful situations like trips to the hospital for blood work. Additional papers examine adults' intuitions regarding the reliability of children's recollection and the extent to which children's testimony influence juror determinations of guilt or innocence. Several chapters focus on the relation of the empirical research to the broader theoretical issues of the ability to distinguish fact from fantasy and the ability to monitor external and internal states. A variety of new methods for assessing children's memory are described. Critical commentaries from three independent researchers are also included. Figures, data tables, chapter reference lists, author index, and subject index. For individual papers, see NCJ 104753-104758. (Publisher summary modified)