Dealing With False Memories in Children and Adults: Recommendations for the Legal Arena

Henry Otgaar*, Mark L. Howe, Peter Muris, Harald Merckelbach

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Children are often viewed as poor eyewitnesses. Fact-finders, lawyers, and researchers assume that children are exceptionally prone to accept external suggestive (leading) questions and to create false memories. Is this assumption justified? This review will show it is not. First, studies on spontaneous false memories—elicited without any suggestive pressure—reveal that children are less likely than adults to produce them. Second, under certain circumstances, children are even less prone to accept external suggestions than adults. This counterintuitive finding happens when false suggestions contain information that is associatively related but in actuality not experienced by children or adults. Using empirically based interview protocols can maximize the retrieval of accurate memories in children and adults. Furthermore, expert witnesses should use alternative scenarios to better evaluate whether statements by children or adults are based on truth or fiction.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)87-93
Number of pages7
JournalPolicy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences
Volume6
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2019

Keywords

  • development
  • developmental reversal
  • expert witness
  • false memory

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