Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2006

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Matthew H Scullin

Abstract

The current study was an investigation of age differences in interrogative suggestibility and its components; Yield, Shift, and Total Suggestibility. Adolescents and young adults were compared on these measures and it was found that young adults Yield significantly less than adolescents and that Total Suggestibility was lower for the young adults compared to the adolescents. Young adults were also found to display significantly higher levels of both memory and source monitoring ability. Regressions were conducted with individual difference factors associated with Yield, Shift, and Total Suggestibility. For Yield, memory was found to be a unique contributor. For Shift and Total Suggestibility memory, source monitoring, and social desirability were found to be unique contributors, with social desirability contributing over age, memory, and source monitoring. The findings of the current study are applicable both to research in the area of interrogative suggestibility and within the legal setting.

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