Final answer:
Children's eyewitness testimony is affected by the interview technique, cognitive development, susceptibility to suggestion, and legal procedures like blind photo lineups and judicial instructions.
Step-by-step explanation:
Children's eyewitness testimony can be influenced by various factors. The way in which questions are asked plays a significant role in testimony accuracy. Neutral and less leading questions yield more accurate accounts (Goodman, 2006; Pipe, 1996; Pipe et al., 2004). Moreover, the procedure of police lineups can affect testimonies. Using a blind photo lineup minimizes the risk of leading cues influencing the child's identification (Pipe et al., 2004). Instructions from judges to jurors about the fallibility of eyewitness identification, as well as the possibility to suppress unreliable eyewitness evidence, are also legal factors that can contribute to the reliability of a child's testimony.
Further considerations include the age of the child, their cognitive development, and the possibility of biases or suggestibility, particularly through interviewer influence or exposure to misleading information (Ceci & Bruck, 1993, 1995; Loftus & Palmer, 1974). The consensus among experts and whether the testimony aligns with this consensus is also critical for assessing reliability (Carli, 1999; Ceci & Bruck, 1993, 1995). Thus, when analyzing children's eyewitness testimony, it's important to consider both the interview process and independent child-specific factors.