CUES AND SECRETS - INFLUENCES ON CHILDRENS EVENT REPORTS

Eighty-eight 6-year-olds and 88 10-year-olds took part, in pairs, in a contrived interaction with a ''magician.'' The children were interviewed 10 days and 10 weeks later in 1 of 4 conditions: no cues, context cues, relevant cues, and irrelevant cues. Older children recalled more accurate information than younger children, and both groups recalled more accurate information after the short than the long delay. Although relevant cues facilitated free recall, accuracy did not differ across cue conditions. Younger children were less likely to report an accident they had been asked to keep secret than were older children. Children's understanding of truth and lies did not predict errors in free recall or their reporting of the secret.