More and more children come forth as eyewitnesses in legal proceedings. To date research findings are suggestive but inconclusive that children may be unreliable memory sources and be perceived as such by jurors. Previous studies, however, have seldom focused on children's memory for legally realistic events or examined adults' reactions to the actual eyewitness reports of children. Dr. Leippe plans to accomplish both of those tasks through a carefully planned program of research, including simulation experiments. In a first set of studies, first graders, fifth graders, and college students watch a theft on videotape and then attempt to identify the perpetrator and provide verbal reports of the crime while also being taped. The "subject-witnesses'" reports are shown to adult "subject-jurors" who judge their accuracy and "delivery style" (e.g., confidence, consistency). Based on jurors' assessments, trained observers' ratings, and performance indices of witness accuracy, analyses address what accounts for actual and perceived age differences in testimony. In a second set of studies, subject- jurors, drawn from college and jury eligible populations, are presented with trials that include testimony from the first studies. These experiments aim to isolate the effects of such factors as age of witness, strength of testimony, and reasonable doubt instructions on jury behavior. This program of research should contribute substantially to a scientific understanding of the accuracy of children's testimony and its impact in court. By viewing the child witness as a source of information and the jury as a receiver of such information, Dr. Leippe brings together theoretical work on information processing and persuasion to explain a basic legal phenomena--the causes of juror belief and disbelief in testimony.
