Abstract

This study examined the effects of question types and several individual differences on children’s remembering of a stressful experience. 63 children ranging in age from 4 to 10 years who had visited a private dental clinic and undergone a minor operative dental procedure were evaluated through hierarchically structured interview protocol. Overall, older children showed superior total recall and provided more information than younger children particularly in response to general probes. More interestingly, some individual characteristics specific to each child, namely negative dental history, parents preparation for the event and children’s social emotional behavior characteristics were strongly associated with children’s recall by open-ended questions much more than closed and yes-no questions both for older and younger children. Finally, the importance of questions types and individual differences for further understanding of children's reliable testimony in forensic context were discussed in depth.