The Designer’s Den: Misinformation & False Memories Children vs Adults

The Designer’s Den – Children are less Vulnerable to Misinformation and False Memories Compared to Adults Contrary to Criminologists, Lawyers, and Fact-finders’ Assumptions
Name
Institutional Affiliation
The Designer’s Den – Children are less Vulnerable to Misinformation and False Memories Compared to Adults Contrary to Criminologists, Lawyers, and Fact-finders’ Assumptions
Society has often perceived children as remarkably prone to misinformation and false memories and would readily admit to external influences due to their developmental stage and general vulnerabilities compared to adults. This observation has led researchers, criminologists, lawyers, and fact-finders to affirmatively argue that children are largely prone to create false memories of events they have not experienced and would, therefore, serve as inferior witnesses in the criminal justice system. Nevertheless, recent research demonstrates that children are less vulnerable to constructing false memories and accepting external suggestive questions in testimonies compared to adults (Otgaar et al., 2019). In accounting for the difference in the construction of false memories among children and adults, researchers have relied on constructivism and fuzzy-trace theory (FTT) to predict and identify true and false memories in different events (Reyna et al. 2016). For instance, Reyna et al (2016) have argued that FTT attempts to unify and refine information-process and constructivist models through the reliance on a distinction between meaning-based, vague memory and the precise, literal representations that improve with human development. From the perspective of criminal justice law and juvenile psychology, studies including Bala et al (2005), Randell et al (2017), and Pantell et al (2017) children have always appeared in court as witnesses and provided compelling testimonies critical to the justice process. Like adults, children have the inherent mental travel time (MTT) ability, which has evolved in non-primate animals as well as in rats and scrub-jays (Roberts & Feeney, 2009). However, human memory is distinguishable by how long ago an event happened from animal memory concerned with when the event occurred (Roberts & Feeney, 2009). Understanding that children can also serve as court witnesses, sometimes better than adults due to their less vulnerability to misinformation and false memories is critical in appreciating the evolution of human mental time travel, which is observed among members in the animal kingdom.
Methodology
Subjects
To examine the differences in vulnerability among children and adults when exposed to information and false memory suggestions, this hypothetical study employed two sets of participants: children aged between 8-12 years and adults between 20-22 years. 6 children and 6 adults were randomly selected from XYZ township. The inclusion criteria included age to observe the differences in development stage and gender to balance for both female and male participants. All participants were informed about the study although specific questions were not provided prior to the experiment. All ethical guidelines were followed to ensure that the questions did not cause any mental strain among the subjects. Each subject was also provided with a consent form to accept participation in the study. For children under the age of 18, an adult was informed about the study and volunteered to sign on their behalf. Variable such as level of education, economic background, race, or religion were not included in selecting the study sample. However, the investigator ensured that relatives of the subjects had provided answers during a pre-study to match with the responses provided by the participants.
Materials
A short questionnaire containing questions was prepared and ready to be used during the study date. Each of the 12 participants was administered the questionnaire in one of our offices and since most questions were open-ended, recording equipment was needed. To ensure uniformity and avoid biases in the questions asked among the 12 subjects, the questions chosen were similar in both groups but relatively simple to answer since they did not require much thought. One of the 5 questions in the questionnaire was intentionally fake while 4 questions reflected an event that happened in the past year before the study in the same XYZ township. In this fake question, the researcher modified the video recording to include fake elements such as sound and images that would appear false to a keen eye. Recorded audio responses were transcribed and analysed using statistical tools as appropriate.
Procedure
The study involved two phases. The first stage was the pre-study which involved recruiting study participants and their close relatives who knew them well since their birth. The relatives were to provide answers to the pre-set questions. The second stage was the material or the interview day when the participants were asked to provide answers to the best of their memory about a specific event that had happened in their township in the past year. The two groups of participants, adults, and children were separated based on age to ensure accurate recording of the responses from members of each group. Then the participants were later asked to respond by a number 1-5 which of the questions was fake after the interview as they were later told that 4 question were right except one. The participants gave their response and were recorded and analysed to make conclusions.
Results
Based on the study hypotheses and the fuzzy trace theory, it is expected that more of the children participants in the study would have identified the fake question more than the adult subjects. This behaviour prediction is informed by theories that have been developed over the years that describe adult false memories to be largely attenuated during early childhood (Brainerd et al., 2002). Prior to these theories, behaviour prediction would lead to investigators believing that the adults were more likely to identify the fake question that asked about the event. This is because findings show that children are often vulnerable to false memories due to their poor verbatim memory for actual events. Nevertheless, this study included children aged between 8 and 12 years who are considered older children. If a question like “Do did you experience the chocolate that you mum gave you two weeks ago?” to a young child, they are likely to integrate this false information into their memory and be part of the false memory. Getti et al (2002) have examined false memories among adults and children and found that both groups show confidence on true information compared to false reports. However, among adults, coercive procedures are likely to make adults respond contrary to the expectation attesting to the false testimonies (Reyna & Lloyd, 1997). Since there was no coercion in the experiment, the adults were also expected to identify the wrong question about an event they had earlier experienced. If supported by theory, more children were to give the right response by correctly identifying the fake compared to the adults. However, if the hypothesis in this study was not supported by theory, more adults could have given the right response than children.
Discussion
Results from these findings indicate the importance of admitting evidence and testimonies from children who provide compelling evidence in the criminal justice system. Sometimes, the children presented to court are denied justice since their memories are considered incompetent and vulnerable to manipulation. The group of children who would benefit from these findings are often those who have been convicted in juvenile systems in may countries and are not given a chance to provide their side of the story. Besides, apart from the juvenile offenders, these findings would also be helpful to juvenile witnesses who may have important information about criminal events that may have occurred in their presence without any adults around. Such cases include child sexual abuse that may not be readily be presented with sufficient witnesses. In these cases, it is important that judges and the entire criminal justice system admits the witnesses and the evidence that they may present to improve on the process of justice. Besides sexual assault, there are many examples where children would be required to provide evidence in court or provide testimonies about events that are controversial to be handled by adults who did not witness the occurrences. In such cases, juvenile witnesses and offenders would be offered an equal recognition as adults in providing their part of the story without prejudice. This would ensure justice to the accused and the offended in the criminal...