The Possible Role of Source Misattributions in the Creation of False Beliefs Among Preschoolers

Ceci, Stephen J.; Loftus, Elizabeth F.; Leichtman, Michelle D.; Bruck, Maggie

doi:10.1080/00207149408409361

Cited by 322 publications

(210 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…If children are exposed to misinformation during repeated interviews, young children in particular may incorporate the false verbatim information into their immediate memory accounts, thereby increasing inaccuracies (e.g., Brainerd & Reyna, 1990. Finally, when interviews are repeated, children may assume that their earlier responses were incorrect, leading to inaccuracies over time due to social pressure (e.g., Siegal, Waters, & Dinwiddy, 1988).Several studies confirm these possibilities and reveal remarkably high error rates among children exposed to repeated interviews about fictitious events (e. Ceci, Loftus, Leichtman, & Bruck, 1994). Leichtman and Ceci (1995), for instance, questioned preschool-age children on multiple occasions about a man's visit to their class.…”

supporting

confidence: 53%

Developmental differences in the effects of repeated interviews and interviewer bias on young children's event memory and false reports.

Quas

Malloy

Melinder

et al. 2007

Developmental Psychology

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The present study investigated developmental differences in the effects of repeated interviews and interviewer bias on children's memory and suggestibility. Three-and 5-year-olds were singly or repeatedly interviewed about a play event by a highly biased or control interviewer. Children interviewed once by the biased interviewer after a long delay made the most errors. Children interviewed repeatedly, regardless of interviewer bias, were more accurate and less likely to falsely claim that they played with a man. In free recall, among children questioned once after a long delay by the biased interviewer, 5-year-olds were more likely than were 3-year-olds to claim falsely that they played with a man. However, in response to direct questions, 3-year-olds were more easily manipulated into implying that they played with him. Findings suggest that interviewer bias is particularly problematic when children's memory has weakened. In contrast, repeated interviews that occur a short time after a to-be-remembered event do not necessarily increase children's errors, even when interviews include misleading questions and interviewer bias. Implications for developmental differences in memory and suggestibility are discussed. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptAlthough it is well accepted that memories are not exact replicas of prior experiences but instead are reconstructions (Loftus, 1979), the nature of these reconstructions and the effects of developmental and contextual influences on them remain debated. One noteworthy debate has focused on the effects of repeated interviews on children's memory and suggestibility. In particular, concerns have been raised that the more often a child is interviewed, the more often misinformation might be presented-intentionally or inadvertently-leading to increased inaccuracy over time. Moreover, repeated demands for a child to retrieve information from memory may increase confabulations due to social pressure. Despite these concerns, studies of children's memory for experienced events generally suggest that repeated interviews can improve performance by facilitating recall and reducing forgetting (e.g., Howe, Courage, & Bryant-Brown, 1993;Peterson, 1999). Yet, in a second line of research, specifically when children are suggestively questioned about false events, adverse effects of repeated interviews appear to emerge (e.g., Bruck, Ceci, & Hembrooke, 2002;Leichtman & Ceci, 1995).A simple explanation for the different patterns of results is that repeated interviews benefit memory when the to-be-remembered event is true and distort memory when the to-beremembered event is false. However, a number of other factors likely contribute to the evident reduction in accuracy when children are repeatedly interviewed about fictitious events, making the simple explanation premature. For instance, studies concerning children's false event reports following repeated interviews often began with an interviewer explicitly stating that the false events occurred...

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supporting

confidence: 53%

Developmental differences in the effects of repeated interviews and interviewer bias on young children's event memory and false reports.

Quas

Malloy

Melinder

et al. 2007

Developmental Psychology

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“…For example, children may need to distinguish between actions carried out on multiple occasions by the same perpetrator. Also, false accusations may occur because children imagine suggested but fictitious actions by a person and later mistakenly believe that those actions were actually carried out by that person (e.g., Ceci, Loftus, Leichtman, & Bruck, 1994). The similarity effect can be useful when Accumulating evidence, however, shows that difficulty discriminating between similar sources is not the sole reason for developmental differences in source monitoring.…”

Section: The Similarity Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accurate source identification often involves more strategic decision making and it is possible that children have a tendency to report the information that they remember without recalling its source or engaging in a more intensive and strategic analysis of its source. Second, although children's reports about actual and fictitious events sometimes do differ qualitatively (e.g., Alonso-Quecuty, 1995;Santtila, Roppola, & Niemi, 1999;Roberts, Lamb, Zale, & Randall, 1998), in some circumstances (e.g., after repeated, suggestive interviews) children's true and false reports are often qualitatively indistinguishable even by those with extensive experience with children's reports (e.g., Ceci et al, 1994). Hence, research on helping children to strategically reduce their own source errors may help improve the accuracy of their testimony.…”

Section: Interviewing Protocolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Children’s ability to distinguish between memories from multiple sources: Implications for the quality and accuracy of eyewitness statements

Roberts

2002

Developmental Review

100

117

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Identifying the sources of memories (e.g., who carried out an action, whether an event happened or was suggested, when an instance of a repeated event occurred) is an important skill in providing accurate accounts of events in forensic investigations. Sensitivity to the nature and development of children's source-monitoring skills can inform interviewing practices. Five perspectives addressing alternate aspects of the development of children's source monitoring are outlined (source-monitoring theory, fuzzy-trace theory, schema theory, the person-based perspective, and the mental-state reasoning model). Six main areas of empirical research stemming from these theories are then discussed with emphasis on how the findings relate to the forensic arena: The similarity of sources, the identity of the agent, prospective processing, the relation of source monitoring to other cognitive skills, metacognitive understanding, and the stringency of source-monitoring decisions. The research reviewed is used to address two main applications to forensic investigations: (a) expectations of child witnesses, and (b) interviewing protocols.Children's ability to distinguish 3 Children's Ability To Distinguish Between Memories From Multiple Sources: Implications For The Quality And Accuracy Of Eyewitness StatementsOne of the most important investigative tools in forensics is the interview. Interviewing victims of and witnesses to crimes is especially important in investigations where there is little physical evidence and the main evidence therefore comes from eyewitness accounts. Concern has been raised about the reliability of eyewitness testimony, however, because many factors can have adverse effects on the length, quality, and accuracy of testimony. In addition to providing an accurate account of exactly what transpired during a crime, witnesses must also accurately identify the sources or origins of event details. Examples include identifying the source of an action (e.g., Who did it, Perpetrator A or Perpetrator B?), the source of a voice (e.g., Who said it, me or the perpetrator?), the reality status of a past event (e.g., Did it really happen or did I just dream it? Did I really see it happen or did I just hear about it?), and identifying one incident from a series of incidents (e.g., Did he touch me the first time he babysat or the last time he babysat? Did he touch me in the bedroom or the bathroom?). In all of these examples, child victims and witnesses must retrieve their memories and identify the precise source of those memories. Research on the development of such "source monitoring" (Johnson, Hashtroudi, & Lindsay, 1993; can provide us with accurate expectations of child witnesses' capabilities, contribute to the development of appropriate interviewing protocols, and shed light on interviewers' judgments of child witnesses' credibility.There are numerous source distinctions relevant to the forensic arena (see Table 1 for examples). Witnesses need to monitor various sources contained in a target incident (i.e., t...

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“…As pointed out by Ceci, Loftus, Leichtman, and Bruck (1994) and Strange, Sutherland, and Garry (2006), past research has shown mixed results regarding this variable; sometimes repeated interviewing over time causes an increase, decrease, or no change in false memory recall. Factors such as participant age, years since alleged false memory, and amount of time delay may help explain why false memory recall increases and decreases over time.…”

Section: Memory Changes Over Timementioning

confidence: 99%

Virtually True: Children's Acquisition of False Memories in Virtual Reality

2009

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Previous work on human memory has shown that prompting participants with false events and self-relevant information via different types of media such as narratives, edited 2-dimensional images, and mental imagery creates false memories. This study tested a new form of media for studying false memory formation: Immersive Virtual Environment Technology (IVET). Using this tool, we examined how memory was affected by viewing dynamic simulations of avatars performing novel actions. In the study, 55 preschool and elementary children were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 memory prompt conditions (idle, mental imagery, IVET simulation of another child, or IVET simulation of self ). Each child was questioned 3 different times: once before the memory prompt, once immediately after the memory prompt, and once approximately 5 days after the memory prompt. Results showed that preschool children were equally likely to develop false memories regardless of memory prompt condition. But, for elementary children, the mental imagery and IVET self conditions caused significantly more false memories than the idle condition. Implications regarding the use of digital media in courtroom settings, clinical therapy settings, entertainment, and other applications are discussed.Human memory is imperfect, and while most memory errors do not garner national attention, some famous memory errors have made headlines in the last 20 years (Loftus, 2002). False memories of sexual abuse (arguably planted or elicited by therapists) led to large lawsuits in the 1990s and motivated an

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The Possible Role of Source Misattributions in the Creation of False Beliefs Among Preschoolers

Cited by 322 publications

References 11 publications

Developmental differences in the effects of repeated interviews and interviewer bias on young children's event memory and false reports.

Developmental differences in the effects of repeated interviews and interviewer bias on young children's event memory and false reports.

Children’s ability to distinguish between memories from multiple sources: Implications for the quality and accuracy of eyewitness statements

Virtually True: Children's Acquisition of False Memories in Virtual Reality

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