Streamlining the narrative elaboration technique: helping young children become better eyewitnesses

Abstract

The Narrative Elaboration Technique (NET) is a forensic interview technique that has been shown to increase the amount of information provided by children in open-ended recall. Efforts have been made to streamline the technique for use in real-world settings. The present study examined the effectiveness of two streamlined NET interviews with three to seven year old children. It is the first study to completely omit the NET training session, without substituting a rapport building session, and to test the effectiveness of NET verbal prompts with children younger than six years old. Although NET was not found to be effective at increasing open-ended recall with the younger children in the sample, the streamlined NET interview with verbal prompts proved to be as effective as the full NET interview with five to seven year old children. These verbal prompts could be readily incorporated into forensic interviews.