Children’s ability to distinguish between memories from multiple sources: Implications for the quality and accuracy of eyewitness statements

Abstract

Identifying the sources of memories (e.g., who carried out an action, whether an event happened or was suggested, and when an instance of a repeated event occurred) is an important skill in providing accurate accounts of events in forensic investigations. Sensitivity to the nature and development of children’s source-monitoring skills can inform interviewing practices. Five perspectives addressing alternate aspects of the development of children’s source monitoring are outlined (source-monitoring theory, fuzzy-trace theory, schema theory, the person-based perspective, and the mental-state reasoning model). Six main areas of empirical research stemming from these theories are then discussed with emphasis on how the findings relate to the forensic arena: the similarity of sources, the identity of the agent, prospective processing, the relation of source monitoring to other cognitive skills, metacognitive understanding, and the stringency of source-monitoring decisions. The research reviewed is used to address two main applications to forensic investigations: (a) expectations of child witnesses and (b) interviewing protocols.