If at First You Don't Remember, Try, Try Again: The Role of Initial Encoding in Children's False Reports

Abstract

To examine the extent to which differences in the initial encoding of information affect preschoolers' vulnerability to suggestion, 4 groups of 4-year-olds (N = 54) individually participated in a simulated shopping event in which they were asked to purchase 6 items from a specially constructed grocery store. Half the children had only 1 opportunity to purchase the list of items, whereas the remaining half returned to the store on multiple occasions until they correctly purchased all 6 items on 2 consecutive trials. Following the shopping event, the children were interviewed in either a neutral or suggestive manner on 3 occasions over a 3-week period. The suggestive interviews contained strongly worded suggestions that certain items had been purchased, when in fact they had not been on the list. One week later, all the children were questioned by a new interviewer. Compared with the children in the other 3 groups, those in the 1-trial suggestive group were more likely to spontaneously report suggested items during the final interview, demonstrating that poor versus strong initial encoding heightens proneness to postevent suggestions.