Child witnesses: a study of memory and suggestibility

To investigate the influence of various factors on the ability of primary school children (aged 6-9 years) to refer an event that occurred during their life.

The factors analyzed were: the time since the event occurred; the role the child had in the event; the type of questions asked to elicit the account.

The results of this research indicate that 52.4% of 6-year old children are able to describe the main elements of the event if they are allowed to give a free account. Asking direct questions does not improve the quality of the narrative. By contrast, in 9-year-old children the quantity of data collected is improved if direct questions are asked. A role as a participant in the event improves the quality of the child's evidence but only in the group of children aged 9, whereas in younger children the difference is not significant. At the age of 9, the child's resistance to leading questions is already quite good (40.7%), whereas children of 6 are much more suggestible.

The Authors conclude this work by making some reflections on the possible use of these findings in Law Courts, and on the need for a highly specific training of experts involved in the task of collecting evidence from young children.