Children’s strategic regulation during a confidence lineup paradigm

Abstract

ABSTRACT The accuracy of memory reports is dependent, at least in part, on a person’s ability to screen out incorrect responses by engaging in strategic regulation of memory reports (Koriat & Goldsmith, 1996; 2001). One way in which strategic regulation can be examined is through the use of an explicit ‘I don’t know’ (IDK) response option during memory report tasks. The present research explored the extent to which a confidence identification paradigm (see Sauer et al., 2008) encouraged strategic regulation in child eyewitnesses when reporting on their recognition memory. We recruited 545 children (aged 6-11) who were assigned to (1) a confidence paradigm that either contained or did not contain an explicit ‘I don’t know’ (IDK) response option or (2) a traditional lineup paradigm that either contained or did not contain an IDK response option. Regardless of whether an IDK response option was available, the confidence paradigm performed with similar accuracy. However, the IDK option was used more frequently in the traditional lineup paradigm than in the confidence paradigm. Taken together, these findings suggest that the confidence identification paradigm sufficiently encourages strategic regulation in children when reporting on recognition memory without the need for an explicit no-response option.