Effect of Socially Encountered Misinformation and Delay on Children's Eyewitness Testimony

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of different types of post-event misinformation and a 3-month delay on children's suggestibility. Children aged 9–11 years old were interviewed about a witnessed event, on three occasions: immediately after witnessing the event (Baseline), after exposure to misinformation (Time 1) and after a 3-month delay (Time 2). With regard to misinformation, the children were allocated to one of three conditions: exposure to a biased narrative, exposure to a biased confederate, and no exposure to misleading information. Suggestibility was significantly higher when misinformation was introduced socially, by a confederate, than when it was introduced via a written narrative. Suggestibility scores, however, for all the children were significantly lower after a 3-month delay, although those who had been exposed to misinformation were still more suggestible than those in the control group.