Citation

Salmon K, Irvine P. Leg. Crim. Psychol. 2002; 7(2): 173-186.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, British Psychological Society, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1348/135532502760274783

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Purpose. We compared the influence on preschoolers' event recall of photograph reminders presented at different points between the event and the interview.Methods. Seventy-seven children aged 3.5-4.5 years participated in a quasimedical event and were interviewed 10 weeks later. The children were allocated to one of three reminder conditions: early reminder (3 or 4 days after the event); late reminder (24 hours before the interview); and reminder-at-interview (at the beginning of the interview). There were two control groups: no reminder and reminder only (children who did not take part in the event but received the reminder at the beginning of the interview).Results. The photograph reminder did not facilitate recall relative to no reminder. Nonetheless, the event reports of children in the late reminder condition contained a greater proportion of information consistent with the event than of those in the no-reminder and reminder-at-interview conditions, and a strong trend toward reporting more event-consistent information than of those in the early-reminder condition. Notably, children in the reminder-only condition reported moderate amounts of information consistent with the event, including event-consistent information that was not present in the reminder photographs.Conclusions. A photograph reminder presented 24 hours before the interview enhances children's recall to a greater extent than reminders presented at other points. Photographs may not be optimal reminders for preschoolers, however. The impact of reminders may be masked when children have scripted knowledge relevant to the event.

Language: en