Abstract:
Previous studies have compared the performance of young adult eyewitnesses with that of children
or elderly witnesses, but few studies have allowed direct comparison of the performance of all three
age groups. The accuracy and suggestibility of accounts of a video recording of a kidnapping was
investigated using an experimental eyewitness paradigm. Subjects were drawn from three age groups; children (aged 7 - 9 years); young adults (aged 16 - 18 years) and elderly subjects (aged 60 - 85 years). Subjects' accuracy in answering non-misleading questions and their susceptibility to misleading information was measured. Both the elderly and child subjects gave fewer correct answers and more incorrect answers to non-misleading questions than did young adults. The elderly subjects gave fewer correct responses but also fewer incorrect responses to non-misleading questions than did child subjects. Children were more suggestible than either elderly or young adults. No significant difference was found in the suggestibility of elderly and young adults. Contrary to the trace strength hypothesis no relationship was found between accuracy of recall and suggestibility.