@article{ref1,
title="Allegations of wrongdoing: the effects of reinforcement on children's mundane and fantastic claims",
journal="Journal of applied psychology",
year="2000",
author="Garven, S. and Wood, Joanne M. and Malpass, R. S.",
volume="85",
number="1",
pages="38-49",
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 wrong doing 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 &quot;fantastic&quot; 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 wrong doing.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0021-9010",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}