Source monitoring reduces the suggestibility of preschool children.
The relation between source monitoring and suggestibility was examined among preschool children. Thirty-two 3- to 5-year-olds were simultaneously presented with a brief story in two different modalities, as a silent video vignette and a spoken narrative. Each modality presented unique information about the story, but the information in the two versions was mutually compatible. The children were then asked a series of questions, including questions about the source (modality) of story details, and leading questions about story details (to assess suggestibility). Performance on the source-monitoring questions was highly correlated with the ability to resist suggestion. In addition, children who were asked source-monitoring questions prior to leading questioning were less susceptible to suggestion than were those who were asked the leading questions first. This study provides evidence that source monitoring can play a causal role in reducing the suggestibility of preschool children.
Giles
Jessica W
JW
Department of Psychology, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0109, USA.
Gopnik
Alison
A
Heyman
Gail D
GD
D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D013404:Suggestion