ABSTRACT

This study investigated the accuracy and narrative coherence of children’s accounts of a staged event across two interviews in comparison to a control condition to discern between the effects of repeated recall and delay between interviews. Seventy-six 8–11-year-olds took part in a first aid training session. Half of the children were randomly assigned to be interviewed using open-ended questions twice, one week after the event and five weeks after the event, whilst the other half were interviewed only once, five weeks after the event. Supporting the hypotheses, children reported more details over the course of two interviews than in a single interview either 1-week or 5-weeks after the event, and details that remained consistent across the two interviews were more accurate than reminisced details. The increased completeness of children’s accounts in two interviews was accompanied by an increase in the use of markers of causal-temporal connectedness. The hypothesis regarding the negative effect of delay on the accuracy of children’s testimony was partially supported, as details reported in the first, 1-week interview were more accurate than details in the single 5-week interview. Results demonstrate that multiple interviews can increase the narrative coherence of children’s testimony without decreasing their accuracy.

摘要

本研究调查了儿童在两次访谈中对舞台事件的叙述的准确性和叙述连贯性，并与对照条件进行了比较，以辨别重复回忆的影响和访谈之间的延迟。76 名 8 至 11 岁的儿童参加了急救培训课程。一半的孩子被随机分配接受两次开放式问题的采访，分别是在活动后一周和五周后，而另一半只在活动五周后接受一次采访。支持假设的是，在事件发生后 1 周或 5 周，儿童在两次访谈过程中报告的细节比在一次访谈中更多，而且在两次访谈中保持一致的细节比回忆的细节更准确。在两次访谈中，儿童叙述的完整性增加伴随着因果时间关联性标记的使用增加。关于延迟对儿童证词准确性的负面影响的假设得到部分支持，因为在第一次为期 1 周的访谈中报告的细节比在单次为期 5 周的访谈中报告的细节更准确。结果表明，多次访谈可以增加儿童证词的叙述连贯性，而不会降低其准确性。1 周面试比单次 5 周面试的细节更准确。结果表明，多次访谈可以增加儿童证词的叙述连贯性，而不会降低其准确性。1 周面试比单次 5 周面试的细节更准确。结果表明，多次访谈可以增加儿童证词的叙述连贯性，而不会降低其准确性。