All children develop an autobiographical memory about events or people connected to them. The study of autobiographical memory in children attempts to understand how and why certain one-time events hold personal meaning to a child can be recalled. Memory is a gradually developing system created throughout childhood and adolescence. Scholars state that autobiographical memory develops with specific social interactions and is assisted through the involvement of the parents. Parents often ask a preschooler to tell the story about a toy. Sometimes parents teach their child to memorize facts like the alphabet by using a song. Although individual differences in children mean their memory develops at different speeds and levels. Through the input of parents their memory can strengthen.
It is most likely Skye is developing her own autobiographical memory from the stories she creates in conjunction with her parents. My advice to Skye’s mother would be to caution her that a child of only five may not have a reliable memory of the robbery. Skye’s mother should consider is how verbal her child is and whether she can describe day at school. My advice to Skye’s mother would be to caution her that a child of only five may not have a reliable memory of the robbery. A five-year-old in school is only starting to memorize facts so it seems possible Skye doesn’t possess a reliable memory at her age.
The accuracy of a young child is less than that of an older child, the issue with memory does not arise from a lack of intelligence. Rather it arises from the difficult they face when recalling their experiences. Skye was sleeping on the couch and woke up to robbers exiting the house, she only saw one the robbers’ faces. When the police arrived on scene, she was able to give a description of the robber; and she “thought” that he was a teenager in her neighborhood. Skye’s description could possibly be inaccurate because as a five-year-old her autobiographical memory is not fully developed. Skye’s episodic memory is limited which brings doubt that she even realizes that she experienced a break at her home. Will she have a general knowledge to put the event in context? Due to Skye’s young age, it is unsure how good her retrieval with experiences will be.
Since her memory is very limited, the statement that Skye gave does not indicate that she remembers enough detail for the police to be sure it really was a teenager from her neighborhood. I would ask Skye’s mother if the police found any more evidence of the identity of the robber. Does Skye’s mother know if there were fingerprints or a confession? Skye may be prone to believe that the young teenager performed the robbery if she is prejudiced by his prior actions (Ceci,1993). I suggest that Skye’s mother ask Skye if she knew the young man before the robbery and if so, how she knew him. If other neighbors suspect the teenager is breaking into homes or warned Skye about the teenager she could be predisposed to identify him. Since Skye is a young child, her ability to be fully detailed with her description are not likely to be accurate.
Older children are more likely to be resistant to misleading questions that officials may ask when compared to younger children who have a challenging time responding. When responding to an interview, Skye may not have known an answer because her episodic memory has not quite developed. However, she can still answered the question because her semantic memory is learned from general knowledge. It will be difficult for Skye’s mother to judge whether the police interviewing Skye suggested the intruder was the neighbor. The interviewer often creates a hypothesis to try to confirm a certain outcome and information from the child. There is a significant danger the child’s testimony when person interviewing leads the child in questioning.
In one study, “When the interviewer was accurately informed, she got children to correctly recall between 70% and 100% of such events. However, when she was misinformed, 34% of the 3- to 4- year-olds corroborated one or more events that the interviewer falsely believed had transpired” (Ceci,1993). Skye’s mother may be concerned about whether her daughter is capable of an accurate identification for very good reason considering her daughter’s young age.
Based on Skye’s information the police arrested the teenager and the case is headed to court. Skye’s mom is unsure of the accuracy of her daughter’s testimony. She is very perceptive to consider the possibility Skye may not have a sufficient memory to be accurate. One thing Skye’s mother should consider is whether anyone interviewing Skye suggested the identity of the robber to her daughter. Persuasion could have taken place just like the distressing events at the McMartin preschool. When parents whose young children went to McMartin preschool heard a teacher had sexually abused a student the parents questioned their own children. Ultimately is was found that 90% of the children falsely said they were abused and the parent’s constant leading questions created false reports (The New York Times, 2014). I would advise Skye’s mother not to question her daughter repeatedly about the robbery in case she caused her daughter to give unreliable information.
There are limits to what the mother can do in this situation. I would not suggest that Skye’s mother should allow her to testify due to her young age. Furthermore, any parent would also want to find out if her child will be shielded from viewing the person on trial when testifying. Some people think the technique of shielding the child helps the accuracy of the testimony. Skye is just on the edge of the age when children have better memory skills. Skye’s mother needs to find out what the law is about when a child is considered old enough to testify. Skye’s mother is in a very difficult position and it is hard for her to know if there were factors present to swing her daughter’s testimony to identify the teenager. If she does decide to let her testify I would recommend she doesn’t discuss the incident with Skye so there is no risk of leading her daughter. My final recommendation would depend on what corroborating evidence there may be to support Skye’s account.
