NCJ Number
180009
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 23 Issue: 11 Dated: November 1999 Pages: 1127-1139
Date Published
1999
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study evaluates children's eyewitness memory for a repeated event, a significant issue for chronic sexual abuse investigations.
Abstract
One group of 6- to 7-year-olds played individually with an experimenter on one occasion; another group experienced three such events, with some details remaining the same and others changing. In a phased interview, children were questioned about the initial event. For details which stayed the same, the children who experienced three events had more accurate memories. They had poorer memories than the single-event group for details which were changed in the later events; however, this was due to interference errors, with errors of omission and commission being lower than in the single-event group. Children conveyed clearly that inappropriate touching did not occur. The study concludes that children who experience repeated events have increased recall for repeated details but confuse the timing of details that change across events. The findings support previous suggestions that it is unrealistic to expect children to be able to report repeated events without some confusion about timing of details and children are resistant to misleading questions about abuse. References, appendix