Immediate interviewing increases children's suggestibility in the short term, but not in the long term

Abstract

Purpose Children sometimes receive misinformation after being formally interviewed about their experiences in cases of suspected abuse. Following decades of research, many guidelines have been produced for interviewers so they can obtain reliable statements in children, like, for example, the NICHD protocol. One might expect that completing an early interview following research‐based guidelines might guard against the incorporation of misinformation encountered later. The goal of the current experiments was to examine whether following research‐based guidelines such as the NICHD protocol might protect child witnesses against follow‐up ‘misinformation’ or make them more vulnerable to misinformation. This increased vulnerability to misinformation has been referred to as retrieval‐enhanced suggestibility. Methods In two experiments, children viewed a video and half of them were interviewed using the NICHD protocol, while the other half were not interviewed. The children received misinformation and a final memory test either immediately after being interviewed (Experiment 1) or 1 week later (Experiment 2). Results Retrieval‐enhanced suggestibility was observed when misinformation was presented immediately but not when it was provided after 1 week. Conclusions The current experiments indicate that a well‐established interview protocol can, under some circumstances, amplify levels of suggestibility in children.

Protecting Against Misinformation: Examining the Effect of Empirically Based Investigative Interviewing on Misinformation Reporting

“…So far, there exists only one study in which the impact of using a science-based interview protocol on the reporting of misinformation in children was examined using a similar procedure as has been employed in previous retrieval-enhanced suggestibility studies in adults (Otgaar et al 2019). In this study, we used the National Institute for Child Health and Development Protocol (NICHD Protocol;Lamb et al 2007), which is a developmentally sensitive interview method based on research on the development of children and how children talk about traumatic experiences (Lamb et al 2007;La Rooy et al 2015).…”

“…In our study on the impact of the NICHD Protocol on the reporting of misinformation (Otgaar et al 2019), 108 5-to 10year old children first viewed a video, after which half of the children were interviewed about this video using the NICHD Protocol while the other half was not interviewed. Then, all children received misinformation and final memory tests were conducted immediately following the misinformation (Experiment 1) or after 1 week (Experiment 2).…”

“…Watching a video is obviously not the same as active involvement in an event. This might be problematic for more applied studies that use interview protocols (e.g., Gabbert et al 2009;Otgaar et al 2019) developed to help witnesses and victims retrieve autobiographical memories about their own, reallife experiences. To circumvent this caveat, one needs to involve participants in an interactive event, thereby making the event more personally relevant.…”

The Quality of Forensic Child Interviewing in Child Sexual Abuse Cases in Indonesia

“…The NICHD protocol is an evidence-based protocol for interviewing alleged CSA victims (Benia et al 2015). The NICHD Protocol has been shown to elicit detailed (Cyr and Lamb 2009;Lamb et al 2003) and accurate (Otgaar et al 2018a(Otgaar et al , 2018b information from children. The NICHD Protocol incorporates scientific knowledge on the developmental capabilities of children (e.g., memory functioning, disclosure of abuse) and creates conditions for maximizing children's productivity and the likelihood of accurate statements regarding experiences of abuse (Ahern et al 2015;La Rooy et al 2015).…”

Does Retrieval Enhance Suggestibility Because It Increases Perceived Credibility of the Postevent Information?

“…This general TPL effect can be observed in the context of RES when the initial interview (or initial test) does not include questions that directly target details that will be contradicted by misinformation later. A prediction borne out by studies that demonstrated RES while employing free recall (Wilford, Chan, & Tuhn, 2014), the Cognitive Interview (LaPaglia, Wilford, Rivard, Chan, & Fisher, 2014), and the NICHD interview protocol as the initial test (Otgaar, Chan, Calado, & La Rooy, 2019). In contrast, a specific TPL effect occurs when a piece of misinformation directly contradicts (or supplements) a previously queried detail.…”