CHILDRENS TESTIMONY AND THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF STRESS IN AND OUT OF THECOURTROOM

Modifications of the courtroom environment have been proposed to reduc e stress and enhance truth-telling of child witnesses. The present stu dy examines the premise that courtroom environment affects the quality of children's evidence and children's perceptions of their own stress . Thirty-four 8- to 10-year-olds participated in an activity and 2 wee ks later, their memory for the activity was tested. Half the children were questioned in a mock courtroom in the law school of a major unive rsity, and half at their school, both by the same interviewer. Childre n questioned at court showed impaired memory performance when compared with agemates questioned at school. They also rated certain court-rel ated experiences as more stressful than peers interviewed at school. F urthermore, children's perceptions of courtroom stress were negatively correlated with completeness of accurate free recall, suggesting a re lation between court-related stress and eyewitness memory worthy of fu rther study.