We are interested in applying research concerning reminiscing and narratives to real-world settings like the courtroom. This work, novel in its approach, illustrates how developmental theories can be used to understand children’s episodic recall abilities in applied settings. We examine, for example, how the individual questions and overall structure of questioning attorneys use with alleged child victims on the stand influence children's responses and jurors' perceptions of child witnesses. To address these questions we use both naturalistic (e.g. coding actual trial transcripts) and lab-based methods. Overall, this work has implications for how others guide children’s reports, and how questioning tactics, by parents and others, may shape not only children’s reports, but also their believability.
