title: Valence, Implicated Actor, and Children's Acquiescence to False Suggestions.
abstract: Although adverse effects of suggestive interviewing on children's accuracy are well documented, it remains unclear as to whether these effects vary depending on the valence of and the actor implicated in suggestions. In this study, 124 3-8-year-olds participated in a classroom activity and were later questioned about positive and negative false details. The interviewer provided positive reinforcement when children acquiesced to suggestions and negative feedback when they did not. Following reinforcement or feedback, young children were comparably suggestible for positive and negative details. With age, resistance to suggestions about negative details emerged first, followed by resistance to suggestions about positive details. Across age, more negative feedback was required to induce acquiescence to negative than positive false details. Finally, children were less willing to acquiesce when they (versus the confederate) were implicated. Findings highlight the interactive effects of valence and children's age on their eyewitness performance in suggestive contexts.
authors.affiliation: kyndral@uci.edu , , 4201 Social & Behavioral Sciences Gateway, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-7085 United States.
authors.forename: Kyndra C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Cleveland
authors.affiliation: jquas@uci.edu , , 4328 Social & Behavioral Sciences Gateway, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-7085 United States.
authors.forename: Jodi A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Quas
authors.affiliation: tlyon@law.usc.edu , , University of Southern California, 699 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90089 United States.
authors.forename: Thomas D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Lyon
keywords: acquiescence; children; interviewer bias; selective reinforcement; suggestibility; valence