RT Article
T1 Suggestive questions reduce the accuracy of adults’ reports about one episode of a repeated event
JF Psychology, crime & law
VO 30
IS 8
SP 917
OP 936
A1 Sharman, Stefanie J.
A2 Danby, Meaghan C.
LA English
YR 2024
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1902694201
AB Witnesses often need to describe individual episodes of repeated crimes, such as family violence. Suggestive questions containing incorrect information reduce the accuracy of adults’ reports of single events; in the current experiment, we examined the effects of suggestive questions on adults’ reports of one episode of a repeated event. Over two weeks, 134 participants completed four activity sessions containing variable details that changed each session, and new details that were not repeated across the series. One week later, they were interviewed and described one (self-nominated) target episode. Next, participants were asked four suggestive questions that varied according to whether the suggested details had been experienced in a non-target episode or not experienced, and detail-type (variable or new). As research with children indicated that question-type might be important, half our participants were asked open suggestive questions; the other half were asked closed suggestive questions. Participants accepted more suggestions about experienced (non-target) than not-experienced details, and about variable than new details. They also accepted more details in open than closed questions, but only for experienced non-target new details. Our results demonstrate the ease with which participants accepted interviewer-suggested details when reporting on an episode of a repeated event.
K1 misinformation
K1 question-type
K1 source monitoring
K1 suggestive questions
K1 Repeated events
DO 10.1080/1068316X.2022.2132247