Eyewitness memory (child testimony)

High school (ages 12+)
Thinking & Learning

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/eyewitness-memory-child-testimony

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the cognitive processes involved?Encoding, storage, and retrieval of sensory information
2. What is the developmental vulnerabilities?Attentional limitations, suggestibility, and developing verbal skills
3. What is child eyewitness memory?It is how kids remember what they see, like clues for a detective. It involves three steps: encoding, storage, and retrieval.
4. Why can kids sometimes mix up what they saw with what others say?Kids can be suggestible, meaning they may add information they hear. This mixing of memories is called the misinformation effect.

Encoding: The initial learning and processing of information into memory.
Retrieval: The process of accessing and recalling stored information from memory.
Suggestibility: The tendency to incorporate misleading information into one's memory.
Confabulation: The creation of false or distorted memories without intent to deceive.