Could temperamental factors explain individual differences in interrogative suggestibility?

Recently the interest in the ability of children to testify in legal contexts has increased. Consequently the issue of reliability of testimony in childhood and all those factors which could cause distortions has been highlighted. Interrogative suggestibility has been found to be an important distortion factor, which is in turn influenced by individual variables. In order to explain the phenomenon, we need to investigate the effects of variables related to individuality, such as socio-psychological factors. This study was designed to assess the relationships of memory and interrogative suggestibility with some temperamental measures by QUIT (Axia, 2002) in school-age children. Participants were 245 Italian children (121 males) ranging in age from 6 to 10 years, recruited from five primary schools in Milan (Italy). The age of 8 years was chosen to split the sample into two groups, since at this age some important cognitive changes happen (for example, ToM development). Analyses showed that only a few of the temperamental factors considered were associated with memory and a vulnerability to suggestive questions. The results will be presented and discussed as to their implications for future research and for their relevance in the context of child testimony.