Allegations of wrongdoing: The effects of reinforcement on children's mundane and fantastic claims

Date

2000

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Journal of Applied Psychology

Abstract

S. Garven, J. M. Wood, R. S. Malpass, and J. S. Shaw (1998) found that the interviewing techniques used in the McMartin Preschool case can induce preschool children to make false allegations of wrongdoing against a classroom visitor. In this study, 2 specific components of the McMartin interviews, reinforcement and cowitness information, were examined more closely in interviews of 120 children, ages 5 to 7 years. Children who received reinforcement made 35% false allegations against a classroom visitor, compared with 12% made by controls. When questioned about "fantastic" events (e.g., being taken from school in a helicopter), children receiving reinforcement made 52% false allegations, compared with 5% made by controls. In a second interview, children repeated the allegations even when reinforcement had been discontinued. The findings indicate that reinforcement can swiftly induce children to make persistent false allegations of wrongdoing. (Author Abstract)

Description

Keywords

child abuse, memory, forensic interview, suggestibility, research

Citation

Garven, Sena ; Wood, James M. ; Malpass, Roy S. (2000). Allegations of wrongdoing: The effects of reinforcement on children's mundane and fantastic claims. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(1), 38-49.

DOI