Introduction Among most crimes committed there is a third party individual who saw first-hand what occurred. These individuals are relied upon to complete investigations and provide testimony if the case were to ever go to trial. Occasionally, these eye witnesses can be children. Since children were first used as witnesses, the serious question of whether or not their testimony should be treated as credible was brought up. As we know, children are still developing and do not have as complete of a grasp on the world as adults do. This coupled with experiments that show false memories in children and the potential harm that could be caused to the children’s well-being have caused many to question whether children could and/or should be
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According to Piaget, children are often egocentric. This egocentrism allows them take world events and bring them into their own perspective. This causes them to oftentimes not pay attention to what others are saying which would prove ineffective if a child is to be an eye witness (Siegler and Alibali, 2005, p. 40). For how can one testify if they are not truly listening to or understanding the context of the situation before them?
Pro Argument Article In an article published in the Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, Carole Peterson believes that children can be used as trusted eye witness sources. Using research, Peterson noted that even children as young as two can provide information that is accurate. When undergoing a stressful situation, children could remember key events that could prove useful to investigators (Peterson, 1996, p. 36). In the study conducted by Peterson, researchers approached children who entered the emergency room. These kids were victims of accidents, creating a stressful environment. The accidents were broken bones and lesions that were severe enough to require stitches. Those families that said they would participate within her study were interviewed as soon as time would allow. …show more content…
62 volunteers were children and 17 were adults. The mean range of subjects was 6 years and five months to 34 years and 11 months. These ages were representative of the two-year mark from the original study. All of the subjects were split into four groups, depending on their age (Poole & White , 1993, p. 846). Two years prior, the subjects were placed in a situation in which they were coloring with a pen. A female research assistant was sitting in the room with them already. A second male researcher then entered the room and grabbed the pen from the participant’s hand and then engaged in a fight with the female assistant. Upon conclusion of the trial, half of the participants were interviewed and immediately and all participants were interviewed one week after the event, regardless if they were interviewed immediately after (Poole & White, 1993, p. 846). They were also interviewed two years after the event took place. The researchers asked both yes and no questions as well as open ended response questions. The researchers found that all ages were able to accurately describe the event during the open ended response questions immediately after the situation (Poole & White, 1993, p. 848). However, children seemed to change their answers during the yes, no questions (Poole & White, 1993, p. 847). Upon immediate questions and questioning two years after the event the researchers found that children seemed to
According to Piaget, children are often egocentric. This egocentrism allows them take world events and bring them into their own perspective. This causes them to oftentimes not pay attention to what others are saying which would prove ineffective if a child is to be an eye witness (Siegler and Alibali, 2005, p. 40). For how can one testify if they are not truly listening to or understanding the context of the situation before them?
Pro Argument Article In an article published in the Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, Carole Peterson believes that children can be used as trusted eye witness sources. Using research, Peterson noted that even children as young as two can provide information that is accurate. When undergoing a stressful situation, children could remember key events that could prove useful to investigators (Peterson, 1996, p. 36). In the study conducted by Peterson, researchers approached children who entered the emergency room. These kids were victims of accidents, creating a stressful environment. The accidents were broken bones and lesions that were severe enough to require stitches. Those families that said they would participate within her study were interviewed as soon as time would allow. …show more content…
62 volunteers were children and 17 were adults. The mean range of subjects was 6 years and five months to 34 years and 11 months. These ages were representative of the two-year mark from the original study. All of the subjects were split into four groups, depending on their age (Poole & White , 1993, p. 846). Two years prior, the subjects were placed in a situation in which they were coloring with a pen. A female research assistant was sitting in the room with them already. A second male researcher then entered the room and grabbed the pen from the participant’s hand and then engaged in a fight with the female assistant. Upon conclusion of the trial, half of the participants were interviewed and immediately and all participants were interviewed one week after the event, regardless if they were interviewed immediately after (Poole & White, 1993, p. 846). They were also interviewed two years after the event took place. The researchers asked both yes and no questions as well as open ended response questions. The researchers found that all ages were able to accurately describe the event during the open ended response questions immediately after the situation (Poole & White, 1993, p. 848). However, children seemed to change their answers during the yes, no questions (Poole & White, 1993, p. 847). Upon immediate questions and questioning two years after the event the researchers found that children seemed to