NCJ Number
160774
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 20 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1996) Pages: 69-80
Date Published
1996
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study examined the influence of peer support and leading and misleading questions on children's reports of a neutral event.
Abstract
Twenty-four children between the ages of 5 and 7 years and 24 children between 8 and 10 years old participated in an event that focused on the parts and functions of the human body. Three days later they were interviewed about the event either alone or with a same-sex peer. The younger children recalled less information than the older children during prompted recall, and both age groups made few errors. For questions, younger children made significantly more errors in response to directly misleading questions than to indirectly misleading questions; for older children, there was no difference in accuracy for the two types of misleading questions. Both age groups were accurate in response to directly and indirectly leading questions. Peer support did not influence children's prompted recall reports about the event or their responses to questions. The findings suggest that care should be taken to phrase questions in an inquisitorial manner to reduce the risk of compliance with information, particularly for young children. Presenting questions in a less confrontational way is likely to reduce the risk of compliance with misleading information suggested by the interviewer. 1 table and 40 references