Reducing Suggestibility in Child Witness Interviews

The way that someone is interviewed has an impact on how they respond. This seems logical as we know about open-ended and close-ended questions and how they can impact a person. Previous research shows that children may yield to superior force in regards to misleading suggestions, such as when the misleading suggestions come from an authority figure. I find this easy to understand since children seem to be more malleable.
The cognitive interview (CI) technique is said to improve memory retrieval and also improves communication between two people. The cognitive interview takes place during rapport building. This technique lets the witness set the pace of the interview and makes a point not to interrupt the witness. The CI uses open ended questions; therefore, the witness is in more control regarding what is recalled. This type of interview is said to help reduce misleading suggestions in child witness interviews.
The Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS) is a test designed to assess responses to misleading questions and negative feedback when one is recalling an event. A previous study gave the GSS to 7 year old children and 12 year old children. The results showed that according to the CSS, the 7 year olds showed greater vulnerability to suggestion than the older children.
Another study compared results from a cognitive interview and a structured interview (SI). The results to this study showed that there were many more correct responses in the CI condition than in the SI condition during a post-interview. Overall, it was shown that children may be more vulnerable to misleading questions, especially when the misleading question comes from a credible source such as a teacher or parent.