PSYCH 2410 1st Edition Lecture 14Outline of Conceptual DevelopmentI. CategoriesII. Symbolic DevelopmentIII. Pretend PlayOutline of Eyewitness TestimonyI. Suggestibility II. Interviewer BiasIII. StereotypesIV. Questioning Eyewitness TestimonyI. Suggestibility- More than 100,000 children testify in court every year (40% under 5)- Testimony relies on autobiographical memory o This memory is imperfect and malleable at all ages- Loftus experiment o Method: watched a movie of crash involving cars, there was no broken headlight;asked “did you see a broken headlight” vs “did you see the broken headlight”o Results: if asked second question they are more likely to say yes o Conclusion: it is easy to be susceptible toe suggestionII. Interviewer Bias- Interviewer has preconceived beliefs about what happenedo Asks leading questionso Fails to ask questions that explore alternative hypotheseso Confirmation bias- Thompson experimento Method: the kids see the janitor either cleaning toys or playing with toys in a room. Either an accusatory interviewer (biased against Chester), exculpatory interviewer (likes Chester), or neutral interviewer. o Results: Actual behavior cleaning- A=playing, E=cleaning, N=cleaning. Actual behavior playing- A=playing, E=cleaning, N=playing. III. Stereotypes - Children’s previous knowledge of the protagonist might affect their memory for the events- Sam Stone Study o Method: kids are told that Sam Stone is a clumsy guy to implant a stereotype. When Sam visits there are no incidents.o Results: several weeks later kids are interviewed. No stereotype= no mischievous behavior by Sam Stone. Stereotype= Sam Stone engaged in mischievous behavior. Younger are more susceptibleo Professionals observed the children being interviewed and asked to rate children’s credibility. The most accurate children were rated as least credible and the least accurate children were rated as most credible. IV. Questioning- Specific questions: Where did he touch you? Did he touch you on your face/body?o Children are less accurate on the specific questions- Forced-choice questions: “did he touch your ears or your nose?”o Children don’t often say I don’t know or none of the above- Repeated Specific Questions: kids watched an ambiguous event and questioned about ito Ex: Did the man hit the woman? 40% changed their stories- Repeated Interviews: children get 10 interviews before courto False narratives become more convincingo Many studies show that adults cannot tell apart true from false memories reported by children- Symbolic Tools: use of anatomically correct dollso Kids struggle with dual representationSUMMARY:- Do not repeat yes or no specific questions- Reduce number of interviews- Interview children soon after the event- Use unbiased interviewers- Avoid biased questioning- Interviewers should: be patient, non-judgemental, not offer rewards for answers or make