can influence preschoolers to believe fictitious events=20
By Susan Lang=20
When preschool children were asked weekly about whether a fictitious event=
had ever happened to them, more than half the 3- and 4-year-old children by=
the 10th week reported that it had and provided cogent details, according=
to a Cornell study.=20
Even more surprising, however, is that more than one-quarter of the children=
could not be convinced the event never occurred when the researchers and=
their parents explained the truth. Furthermore, professionals who=
specialize in interviewing children could not distinguish between children=
telling false or true accounts when they were shown videotapes of the=
children's "recollections."=20
"When young children, ages 3 and 4, are questioned by neutral interviewers,=
they
do very well. They recall events with 90 percent accuracy," said Stephen J.=
Ceci,
the Helen L. Carr Professor of Psychology, who led the study.=20
"However, when children are repeatedly interviewed over the course of weeks
and months with misleading suggestions =AD which sometimes occurs in=
forensic
cases =AD many come to remember the false events as true and provide=
detailed and
coherent narratives about these false events," said Ceci, whose interviewers
asked children, for example: "Think real hard. Did you ever get your hand=
caught
in a mousetrap and go to the hospital to get it off?"=20
"So compelling did the children's narratives appear that we suspected that=
some of the children had come to truly believe they had experienced the=
fictitious events. Neither parents nor researchers were able to convince 27=
percent of the children that the events never happened," said Ceci, a=
well-known research developmental psychologist who has been studying the=
suggestibility of children's memories for more than a decade.=20
With Cornell colleague Mary Lyn Crotteau Huffman, Ceci reported his findings=
on how suggestible the memories of preschool children are in the July issue=
of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry=
(36:7, July 1997).=20
"These false beliefs or false memories appear to arise when children forget=
the basis of an event's familiarity," said Ceci, co-author of the book=
Jeopardy in the Courtroom: A Scientific Analysis of Children's Testimony=
(American Psychological Association, 1996). "Young children are especially=
prone to what we call 'source amnesia.'"=20
Ceci suggests that when children are asked to think periodically about a=
fictitious event, they imagine a fictitious scenario, initially rejecting=
its authenticity because it is unfamiliar. Weeks later, when asked about it=
again, however, they may falsely accept the event's validity because it is=
now familiar as a result of having imagined the scenario earlier.=20
"Consequently, it is exceedingly, devilishly difficult for professionals to=
tell fact from fiction when a child has been repeatedly suggestively=
interviewed over a long period of time," Ceci said. "These children=
frequently display none of the indicators of lying or tricking; they look=
and act the way children do when they are trying to be accurate and=
honest."=20
These findings have important implications for legal cases involving young=
children, including those related to child abuse and sexual child abuse,=
because in some of these trials, children are interviewed many times over=
the course of weeks, months or even years. In fact, the average child in=
the courtroom is interviewed formally 3.5 to 11 times before a court=
appearance and many more times informally.=20
"When suggestive interviewing techniques are used, as in these studies and=
in real cases, they lead to high levels of correct disclosure when the=
child actually experienced the event in question," Ceci said. "However, the=
problem is that they also lead to high levels of false assent when the=
event was not experienced."=20
The studies were supported, in part, by a grant from the National Science=
Foundation.=20
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