Editing Suggestibility (section)

==Child==
Children have developing minds that are constantly being filled with new information from sources all around them. This predisposes children towards higher levels of suggestibility, and as such children are an important area of suggestibility investigation. Researchers have identified key factors, both internal and external, that are strong markers for suggestibility in children.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Principe GF, Schindewolf E | title = Natural Conversations as a Source of False Memories in Children: Implications for the Testimony of Young Witnesses | journal = Developmental Review | volume = 32 | issue = 3 | pages = 205–223 | date = September 2012 | pmid = 23129880 | pmc = 3487111 | doi = 10.1016/j.dr.2012.06.003 }}</ref>

===Internal===
*'''Age:''' Children have a remarkable ability to remember events in their lives. The real variability between ages in suggestibility is the amount of detail provided for an event. Memory detail will be great for older children. Some younger children may need help recalling past events with the help of an adult.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Eisen ML, Goodman GS | title = Trauma, memory, and suggestibility in children | journal = Development and Psychopathology | volume = 10 | issue = 4 | pages = 717–38 | date = December 1998 | pmid = 9886223 | doi = 10.1017/S0954579498001837 | s2cid = 28144789 }}</ref> The problem as it relates to suggestibility is when children, and even adults, blend previous knowledge of similar experiences into their recollection of a single event. Children, particularly younger children, are prone to including details that are similar yet unrelated to the specific event showing that the age of a person is critical in their susceptibility to influence.
*'''Prior knowledge:''' As mentioned before, the possession of prior knowledge that relates to an event can be particularly dangerous when dealing with child suggestibility. Prior knowledge, as it relates to suggestibility is the use of past experiences to help reconstruct past or current events. Prior knowledge of an event can actually be effective at producing accurate recall of a particular situation, but can also be equally as effective at producing false memories. Research showed that when presented with a previously familiar situation, children were likely to falsely recall events as if they had happened.
*'''Gist extraction:''' Although children are extremely likely to recall [[False memory|false memories]] when past events are similar to a current event, they will also recall false memory details that are seemingly unrelated to the event. Researchers named this phenomenon global gist, which is a representation that identifies connections across multiple events. Children will falsely recall information that fits with their representation of the events around them.

===External===
*'''Interviewer bias:''' Interviewer bias is the opinion or prejudice on the part of an interviewer, which is displayed during the interview process and thus affects the outcome of the interview. This happens when interviewers pursue only a single hypothesis that supports what they already think, and ignore any details that counter their hypothesis. The goal is not to get the truth, but to simply corroborate what is already believed. Interviewer bias is commonly experienced when extracting information from children.
*'''Repeated questions:''' It has been shown that asking children the same question over and over again in an interview will often cause the child to reverse their first answer, especially in yes or no questions. It is the child's belief that since the question is being repeated that they must have not answered correctly and need to change their answer.<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Bjorklund DF, Bjorklund BR, Brown RD, Cassel WS | date = June 1998 |title=Children's Susceptibility to Repeated Questions: How Misinformation Changes Children's Answers and Their Minds|journal=Applied Developmental Science|language=en|volume=2|issue=2|pages=99–111|doi=10.1207/s1532480xads0202_4 }}</ref>
*'''Interviewer's tone:''' Children are extremely perceptive of people's tones, especially in an interview situation. When an interviewer's tone dictates the questioning, a child is likely to construct memories of past events when they actually have no memory of that event. An example would be that when a positive tone is used, it has shown to produce more detailed accounts of events. However, it has also been shown to produce false information intended to appease the interviewer.
*'''Peer interactions:''' Children's accounts of events can be greatly distorted by information from their peers. In some cases, children who were not present for an event will later recall witnessing the event as well as details about the event. This information come from hearing about the event as described by their peers.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Principe GF, Ceci SJ | title = "I saw it with my own ears": the effects of peer conversations on preschoolers' reports of nonexperienced events | journal = Journal of Experimental Child Psychology | volume = 83 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–25 | date = September 2002 | pmid = 12379416 | doi = 10.1016/S0022-0965(02)00120-0 }}</ref> These children may speak up in order to feel included.
*'''Repeating misinformation:''' Repeating misinformation is simply when an interviewer gives a child incorrect details of an event. This technique is used over several interviews and occurs several times within a single interview. It has been shown to have a great effect on the accuracy of a child's recollection of an event, and eventually, the misinformation will be included in the child's account of a given event.

=== Extreme events ===
In extreme events such as [[sexual abuse]], extreme anxiety or mistreatment, children can in fact be greatly subjected to suggestibility. It is possible that a child may recall something that didn't actually happen<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Milchman MS | title = Does psychotherapy recover or invent child sexual abuse memories? A case history | journal = Journal of Child Sexual Abuse | volume = 17 | issue = 1 | pages = 20–37 | date = April 2008 | pmid = 19842316 | doi = 10.1080/10538710701884375 | s2cid = 38273975 }}</ref> or they are so traumatized that they do not want to think about what actually happened.

Little research has been carried out into the effects of anxious mood at the time of either the encoding of misleading post‐event information or the time of its possible retrieval, on subsequent suggestibility. Memory accuracy for non‐suggestible items was unaffected by the anxious mood induction. With respect to suggestibility, there was a strong effect of misleading information.<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Ridley AM, Clifford BR | s2cid = 143773311 | date = March 2004 |title=The effects of anxious mood induction on suggestibility to misleading post-event information|journal=Applied Cognitive Psychology|language=en|volume=18|issue=2|pages=233–244|doi=10.1002/acp.963|issn=0888-4080}}</ref> This is just one example of how a highly emotional situation such as an anxiety attack can create suggestibility misconception.

Another example of research is that memory, suggestibility, stress arousal, and trauma-related psychopathology were examined in 328 3- to 16-year-olds involved in forensic investigations of abuse and neglect. Children's memory and suggestibility were assessed for a medical examination and venipuncture. Being older and scoring higher in cognitive functioning were related to fewer inaccuracies. In addition, cortisol level and trauma symptoms in children who reported more dissociative tendencies were associated with increased memory error.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Eisen ML, Goodman GS, Qin J, Davis S, Crayton J | s2cid = 20161355 | title = Maltreated children's memory: accuracy, suggestibility, and psychopathology | journal = Developmental Psychology | volume = 43 | issue = 6 | pages = 1275–94 | date = November 2007 | pmid = 18020811 | doi = 10.1037/0012-1649.43.6.1275 }}</ref> This again proves how a stressful or traumatic experience in young children can be affected by suggestibility.