Child witnesses’ metamemory realism

• This study investigated the degree of realism in the confidence judgments of 11-12 year old children (N=81) of their answers to questions relating to a short film clip showing a kidnapping event. Four different confidence scales were used: a numeric scale, a picture scale, a line scale, and a written scale. The results demonstrated that the children showed a high level of overconfidence in their memories. However, no significant differences between the four confidence scales were found. The results indicate that, at least in the context investigated, 11-12 year-old children’s confidence in their event memory show poor realism. A comparison with previous research on adults indicates that children show noticeably poorer realism.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Eyewitness memory

Children’s testimony

Confidence

Metacognition

confidence

realism

11 to 12-year-olds

metacognition

eyewitness memory

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)