Children's Memory: Fact Or Fiction

The trustworthiness of children's memory has recently become a matter of public debate because of the increasing frequency with which children are called upon to testify as witnesses in criminal cases. The standard defense strategy, of course, is to challenge the reliability of children's memories.
We need to understand the basic, general principles of memory development before we can say how accurate children's memories are likely to be in specific contexts. Our understanding depends heavily on fundamental research in memory development.

Fortunately, a good deal of such research has been published in the last quarter century, providing a solid body of experimentation in memory development during preschool and elementary school years. The public and professional community can glean much good advice from the experimentation and its documentation.

Courts can supply juries a scientific basis for deliberations, drawing upon expert testimony from child memory researchers.

The recent research has shown, among other findings:

Younger children's memories tend to be less reliable than older children's.
Older children's memories tend to be less reliable than adults'.

The first finding does not necessarily signify that children's memories are too unreliable for accurate testimony in legal proceedings. On the contrary, by taking account of well-established principles of memory development research, it is possible to greatly enhance the accuracy of even young children's testimony and to advise courts on the reliability of their testimony.

Principles of Memory Development

Example principles include:

Sensitivity of the questions used to tap children's memories. Open-ended recall tends to be less sensitive than questions that involve choices between clear alternatives.
Opportunities for reminiscence. Forgotten memories tend to resurface if questions are repeated.
Avoidance of suggestive or misleading statements. Children's memories are susceptible to misinformation.

Expert testimony on the reliability of children's memories demands a thorough grasp of the results of research on memory development. Otherwise, it is not expert testimony. Courts must seek such testimony from child memory researchers or professionals.

Research Findings

Studies have revealed some distressing facts:

Individuals classified as experts in child psychology are almost never called as witnesses in the initial trial of a case.
When experts in child psychology do testify, they tend to be only practitioners and may be unaware of the research in memory development.
Although it is feasible to provide juries a scientific base for their deliberations, it is rarely done.