NCJ Number
130678
Journal
Law and Human Behavior Volume: 15 Issue: 3 Dated: (June 1991) Pages: 273-285
Date Published
1991
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Thirty 7-year-olds, 30 12-year-olds, and 39 adults (mean age 30 years, 9 months) participated in a study designed to test the hypothesis that resistance to suggestibility can be induced in children through warnings even when the suggestive questions are posed by an authoritative adult.
Abstract
Study subjects were administered the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale which consists of a story followed by 20 questions, 15 of which are misleading. After subjects were told that their answers were not all correct, the questions were readministered to look for "shifts." Approximately half of the subjects in each age group had been warned that the questions were difficult or tricky and that they should answer only with what they confidently remembered. The 7-year-olds were significantly more affected by misleading questions than either the older children or adults and appeared to be more vulnerable to negative feedback. Children changed more of their answers upon the second questioning. Recall was correlated negatively with both acquiescence to leading questions and likelihood of changing answers, even within age groups. The warning significantly reduced the effect of misleading questions across all age groups. 27 references (Author abstract modified)