Is that what I said?: witnesses' responses to interviewer modifications.
Modifications occur when interviewers contradict statements made by witnesses or imply that witnesses provided information that they (interviewers) did not provide. Because of their suggestive nature, modifications threaten the reliability of investigative interviews. This study investigated developmental differences in witnesses' responses to modifications during interviews as well as in inclusion of modified misinformation in subsequent answers. Preschool, elementary school, and college students were interviewed about a video presentation. In the experimental conditions, the interviewer contradicted information about the video provided by the participants. Participants then answered two sets of follow-up questions: one immediately following the interview and another 6-8 days later. Results indicated that participants were more likely to ignore modifications than to correct or agree with them. Adult participants were most likely to disagree with modifications. Preschoolers were most likely to incorporate modified misinformation into subsequent answers. Implications of these findings for investigative interviews are discussed.
Hunt
J S
JS
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minnesota, USA. jhunt@unlserve.unl.edu
Borgida
E
E
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D008910:Minnesota; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D002666:Psychology, Child; D014342:Truth Disclosure; D014743:Videotape Recording