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The effects of drawing on preschoolers' statements about experienced and non‐experienced events
Author(s) -
Magnusson Mikaela,
Ernberg Emelie,
Landström Sara,
Joleby Malin,
Akehurst Lucy,
Korkman Julia,
Ask Karl
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
applied cognitive psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1099-0720
pISSN - 0888-4080
DOI - 10.1002/acp.3772
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , cognition , human factors and ergonomics , poison control , suicide prevention , cognitive psychology , psychiatry , medical emergency , medicine
Summary Although drawing is frequently used during investigative interviews, few studies have explored the effectiveness of draw‐and‐talk techniques with very young children. In this article, we examined the effects of drawing on preschoolers' (3–6 years old) reports of self‐experienced and non‐experienced events. In Study I, we interviewed 83 preschoolers about a staged event. We did not observe any significant statement differences between children asked to draw‐and‐talk compared to a verbal‐only condition. In Study II, we interviewed 25 preschoolers about a nonexperienced event. Twenty‐one children initially denied the event. When asked if they could help the interviewer draw a person from the event, 13 (61.9%) children complied with the request and eventually provided several false details. While drawing did not significantly increase the average number of details, exploratory findings indicated that drawing may have helped a subset of children. However, drawing might impair children's accuracy when suggestively interviewed about nonexperienced events.