The effects of participation and presentation media on the eyewitness memory of children

The effects of participation and presentation media on eyewitness memory were examined in children aged 5 to 6 and 11 to 12 years. The children witnessed a staged event in one of three conditions: live-bystander, live-participant, or a video of the live-participant event; Older children recalled more correct information and provided a higher proportion of correct recall than did younger children. Age differences also emerged for the yes/no recognition responses, and were influenced by the presentation condition. The older children had a higher recognition rate than the younger children in the live-participant and video conditions, but no differences emerged in the live-bystander condition. Participation effects were found across both age groups, as both younger and older children in the live-participant condition recalled more correct information than did those in the live-bystander and video conditions. Further research is warranted to investigate the ecological validity of laboratory findings based on witnesses who are tested using live-bystander or videotaped events.