ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on effects of interviewing and suggestion on children's memory, but it considers the research examining the effects of suggestion and interview styles on older adults' recollections. It considers several other suggestive techniques highlighted in the Wee Care Nursery case and consider the specific research that has examined the effects of these techniques in experimentally controlled conditions. The chapter describes from the transcripts where children were offered popsicles for the incriminating statements and promises to end the interviews. The exponential growth in research examining the suggestibility of children's memory has highlighted the various internal and external factors that lead to errors in children's reports. The biases and beliefs of the interviewer can have devastating consequences for children's eyewitness statements and ultimately on their recollection of events. Professional guidelines place particular emphasis on child-directed interviewing with a view to limit the extent to which the interviewer can influence the children's response.
