Eyewitness testimony of children in target-present and target-absent lineups.
- 1 June 1989
- journal article
- Published by American Psychological Association (APA) in Law and Human Behavior
- Vol. 13 (2) , 133-149
- https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01055920
Abstract
The effects of age of witness and age of suspect on eyewitness testimony were investigated. Forty-eight elementary school children and 48 college students viewed a slide sequence of a mock crime. This was followed by target-present or target-absent photo identification with a no-choice option, central and peripheral questions related to the crime, and a second photo identification. In photo identification, child witnesses had a higher rate of choosing than adult witnesses, suggesting that children have more lax criteria of responding. The accuracy data showed similar levels of sensitivity across ages although there was a trend toward reduced accuracy of child witnesses in target-absent lineups. All witnesses made more total choices and more correct rejections with child-suspect lineups than adult-suspect lineups. Central questions were answered better than peripheral questions by both age groups, but adults made significantly more “don't know” choices.Keywords
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