An Experimental Analysis of Children's Ability to Provide a False Report about a Crime

Wyman, Joshua; Foster, Ida; Talwar, Victoria

doi:10.3791/53773

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 38 publications

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“…The influence of the interviewer can lead some children to make accusations that they initially know are false. In itself, this is hardly a new finding, as decades of deception research have documented that children will lie in response to various incentives (e.g., Talwar et al, 2011 ; Wyman et al, 2016 ). However, the present findings demonstrate that this is more strongly observed among the youngest participants from the lowest educated families.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lie for Me: Developmental Trends in Acquiescing to a Blatantly False Statement

Hritz

Ceci

2021

Front. Psychol.

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A pair of studies demonstrates that simply asking children to make a blatantly false accusation in the guise of helping others can result in both immediate and long-term false claims. In the pilot study, the initial willingness to make a blatantly false statement was associated with some children making false statements a week later despite being told that the first interviewer had made mistakes during the initial interview. On a positive note, the majority of participants accurately stated that they did not have first-hand knowledge of their accusation's accuracy. Across both studies, the rate of false accusation rates was high. The main experiment demonstrated that children who were young, possessed the lowest verbal intelligence or who were from the lowest SES homes made the most accusations. These findings illustrate not only the dangers of encouraging children to make false statements, but the ease and durability of making such false statements.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%