Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 29, 2026

An Experimental Analysis of Children's Ability to Provide a False Report about a Crime
Published on: May 3, 2016
Peer influence on event reports among adolescents and young adults
Katherine McGuire1, Kamala London, Daniel B Wright
1Department of Psychology, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606, USA. kathy.mcguire@rockets.utoledo.edu
Abstract:
When two or more people witness an event together, the event report from one person can influence others' reports. In the current study we examined the role of age and motivational factors on peer influence regarding event reports in adolescents and young adults. Participants (N=249) watched a short video of a robbery then answered questions with no co-witness information or with information believed to be from a co-witness. Public and private response conditions were included to explore motivations for peer influence. Co-witness information influenced participants' responses, although the effect was equally strong in the private and the public co-witness conditions. Peer influence on event reports was steady across a large age range (11- to 25-year-olds).
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