The effects of rapport-building style on children's reports of a staged event

• Published in: Applied cognitive psychology Vol. 18; no. 2; pp. 189 - 202
• Main Authors: Roberts, Kim P., Lamb, Michael E., Sternberg, Kathleen J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.03.2004; Wiley; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child development; Child psychology; Developmental psychology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Human; Interactional style; Interpersonal interaction; Learning. Memory; Memory; Open ended; Personal relationships; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Rapport; Recall; Young children; Human; Preschool age; Testimony; School age; Memory; Cognition; Recall; Experimental study; Child; Interview; Response accuracy
• ISSN: 0888-4080; 1099-0720
• DOI: 10.1002/acp.957

Three‐ to nine‐year‐old children (n=144) interacted with a photographer and were interviewed about the event either a week or a month later. The informativeness and accuracy of information provided following either open‐ended or direct rapport building were compared. Children in the open‐ended rapport‐building condition provided more accurate reports than children in the direct rapport‐building condition after both short and long delays. Open‐ended rapport‐building led the three‐ to four‐year‐olds to report more errors in response to the first recall question about the event, but they went on to provide more accurate reports in the rest of the interview than counterparts in the direct rapport‐building condition. These results suggest that forensic interviewers should attempt to establish rapport with children using an open‐ended style. Published in 2004 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.