The reliability of hearsay testimony - How well do interviewers recall their interviews with children?

Twenty-seven experienced professionals interviewed preschool children about a previously experienced event. Immediately after, the interviewers recall ed their interviews. Their recollections were compared to actual interview transcripts. On average, interviewers correctly recalled 83% of the major e vent activities, 65% of the event details, and 60% of the errors that child ren had reported to them. Recall of specific interview questions and answer s was quite sparse (around 20%) but highly accurate. Hearsay testimony rega rding child witness interviews appears highly likely to contain the gist of the information obtained during the interviews, less likely to contain det ails, and highly unlikely to retain specific, verbatim questions and answer s. This information loss may result in difficulties for fact finders when e valuating hearsay testimony.