Abstract
Children's memories for their conversations are commonly explored in child abuse cases. In 2 studies, we examined conversational recall in 154 4- to 9-year-old children's reports of an interaction with a stranger, some of whom were complicit in a transgression and were admonished to keep it a secret. Immediately afterward, all children were interviewed about their interaction. One week later, children were asked recall questions about their interaction with the stranger, their conversations with the stranger, and their conversations with the interviewer. Overall, interaction recall questions elicited few details about children's conversations, whereas conversation recall questions were effective in doing so. Accuracy was high in response to both the interaction and conversation recall questions, with no differences observed. Questions explicitly inquiring about coaching elicited higher error rates, as well as apparent attempts to maintain secrecy. Source errors were rare. Conversation recall questions elicited new transgression disclosures among a substantial percentage of children. The results provide tentative support for the use of recall questions in eliciting conversational information from children.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 379-392 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Psychology, Public Policy, and Law |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 1 2018 |
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Keywords
- Child interviewing
- Children's memory
- Conversational memory
- Conversational recall
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Psychology
- Sociology and Political Science
- Law
Cite this
Children's conversational memory regarding a minor transgression and a subsequent interview. / Roosevelt, Stacia; McWilliams, Kelly; Lyon, Thomas D.
In: Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, Vol. 24, No. 3, 01.08.2018, p. 379-392.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Children's conversational memory regarding a minor transgression and a subsequent interview
AU - Roosevelt, Stacia
AU - McWilliams, Kelly
AU - Lyon, Thomas D.
PY - 2018/8/1
Y1 - 2018/8/1
N2 - Children's memories for their conversations are commonly explored in child abuse cases. In 2 studies, we examined conversational recall in 154 4- to 9-year-old children's reports of an interaction with a stranger, some of whom were complicit in a transgression and were admonished to keep it a secret. Immediately afterward, all children were interviewed about their interaction. One week later, children were asked recall questions about their interaction with the stranger, their conversations with the stranger, and their conversations with the interviewer. Overall, interaction recall questions elicited few details about children's conversations, whereas conversation recall questions were effective in doing so. Accuracy was high in response to both the interaction and conversation recall questions, with no differences observed. Questions explicitly inquiring about coaching elicited higher error rates, as well as apparent attempts to maintain secrecy. Source errors were rare. Conversation recall questions elicited new transgression disclosures among a substantial percentage of children. The results provide tentative support for the use of recall questions in eliciting conversational information from children.
AB - Children's memories for their conversations are commonly explored in child abuse cases. In 2 studies, we examined conversational recall in 154 4- to 9-year-old children's reports of an interaction with a stranger, some of whom were complicit in a transgression and were admonished to keep it a secret. Immediately afterward, all children were interviewed about their interaction. One week later, children were asked recall questions about their interaction with the stranger, their conversations with the stranger, and their conversations with the interviewer. Overall, interaction recall questions elicited few details about children's conversations, whereas conversation recall questions were effective in doing so. Accuracy was high in response to both the interaction and conversation recall questions, with no differences observed. Questions explicitly inquiring about coaching elicited higher error rates, as well as apparent attempts to maintain secrecy. Source errors were rare. Conversation recall questions elicited new transgression disclosures among a substantial percentage of children. The results provide tentative support for the use of recall questions in eliciting conversational information from children.
KW - Child interviewing
KW - Children's memory
KW - Conversational memory
KW - Conversational recall
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85051073317&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85051073317&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/law0000176
DO - 10.1037/law0000176
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85051073317
VL - 24
SP - 379
EP - 392
JO - Psychology, Public Policy, and Law
JF - Psychology, Public Policy, and Law
SN - 1076-8971
IS - 3
ER -