Is there touch in the game of Twister? The effects of innocuous touch and suggestive questions on children's eyewitness memory.
Preschool children (ages 48-70 months, N = 48) experienced 2 to-be-remembered events (i.e., the games Twister and Shapes) that included either innocuous bodily touch or no touch. Participants were interviewed 7 days later and asked direct ("Did Amy kiss you?") or suggestive "tag" questions ("Amy kissed you, didn't she?") equated for content. Results indicated that children who were innocuously touched were no more likely to falsely assent to "abuse-related" touch questions (e.g., "Amy touched your bottom, didn't she?") than were children who were not touched. However, children who were asked tag questions responded at chance levels, thereby making high errors of commission in response to abuse-touch questions relative to their no-tag counterparts who responded to "abuse questions" accurately 93% of the time. Children who were asked tag questions assented at a higher rate to general forensic questions ("Amy took your picture, didn't she?") than did children asked direct questions, and children assented at higher rates to "abuse-touch" questions than to general forensic questions. Results are discussed in terms of prior research on interviewing techniques and adult influence on children's testimony.
Krackow
Elisa
E
State University of New York at Binghamton, Binghamton, New York 13905, USA.
Lynn
Steven Jay
SJ
D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D013404:Suggestion; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014110:Touch