Children's Memory of a Naturalistic Event Following Misinformation

Abstract

Can children's reports of a naturalistic event be influenced by inaccurate postevent information? This study investigated conditions under which misinformation may or may not alter 6- and 9-year-old children's reports of a naturalistic event. Two weeks after participating in interactive play, 72 children listened to a narrative that included neutral and inaccurate information. Using a yes-no recognition test, misinformation acceptance and interference were measured. A recall test followed. Misinformation effects were assessed for 3 types of information. On the yes-no test, children evidenced significantly poorer memory for misled event items than for control event items. On the free-recall task, misinformation effects (i.e., suppression of event information) were found only for older children. However, overall, misinformation effects were dependent on the type of information. Results demonstrate that misleading information can, but does not necessarily, impair children's memory reports, and that the impairment is sometimes suppression of event information rather than intrusion of suggested information.