Reviews literature on the reliability of children as courtroom witnesses. Analyzes past and present laws governing the acceptability of children's testimony. Discusses psychological research that has challenged the view that children are more suggestible than adults. Gives special attention to studies made in the early 1900s. (KH)

The scientific study of child witnesses has influenced both developmental science and jurisprudence concerning children. Focusing on the author's own studies, 4 categories of research are briefly reviewed: (a) children's eyewitness memory and suggestibility; (b) memory for traumatic events in childhood; (c) disclosure of child sexual abuse; and…