Stress, Interviewer Support, and Children's Eyewitness Identification Accuracy. Issue 3 (16th October 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rush, Elizabeth B.; Quas, Jodi A.; Yim, Ilona S.; Nikolayev, Mariya; Clark, Steven E.; Larson, Rakel P.
• Is Part Of: Child development. Volume 85:Issue 3(2014)
• Page Start: 1292
• Page End: 1305
• Publication Date: 2013-10-16
• Subjects: Child development -- Periodicals; Child psychology -- Periodicals; Child Development -- Periodicals; Child Development; Pediatrics -- Periodicals; Pedicatrics; 305.231
• DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12177
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0009-3920

Abstract

Abstract : Few studies have investigated how stress affects eyewitness identification capabilities across development, and no studies have investigated whether retrieval context in conjunction with stress affects accuracy. In this study, one hundred fifty‐nine 7‐ to 8‐ and 12‐ to 14‐year‐olds completed a high‐ or low‐stress laboratory protocol during which they interacted with a confederate. Two weeks later, they attempted to identify the confederate in a photographic lineup. The lineup administrator behaved in either a supportive or a nonsupportive manner. Participants who experienced the high‐stress event and were questioned by a supportive interviewer were most accurate in rejecting target‐absent lineups. Results have implications for debates about effects of stress on eyewitness recall, how best to elicit accurate identifications in children, and developmental changes in episodic mnemonic processes.