The susceptibility of child witnesses to suggestion

This article deals with the reliability of child witnesses, in particular from the viewpoint that child witnesses should be treated with suspicion because their memories are very susceptible to suggestion. An experiment is reported, in which grade 3, grade 6, and college students were compared on their ability to recall events from a film, in the face of (mis)leading questions from an interrogator. The data showed that the grade 6 students were equal to the college students in memory capacity and in their ability to resist suggestion. The grade 3 students were inferior to the older subjects in these areas. However, the results from a second testing session led to the conclusion that although the younger children appeared to submit to suggestion much more readily than the older subjects, the effect of suggestion on actual memory was not significantly different for the three subject-groups. The implications of these findings are discussed with reference to the present status of child witnesses in Anglo-Saxon law systems.     

The teacher's tale: On teaching women's studies

The teaching of Women's Studies is beset with difficulties as much as rewards: in this brief article some reflections are offered on the experience of being a teacher on a Women's Studies course. It is suggested that teaching Women's Studies often differs from teaching more conventional disciplines, but that this offers a chance for academic innovation.     

Knowing voices: From silence to wisdom

Mary F. Belenky, Blythe McV. Clinchy, Nancy R. Goldberger, & Jill M. Tarule, Women's Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice and Mind (Basic Books) New York, 1986.     

The politics of the national assessment of chapter 1

This article describes the events associated with the National Assessment of Chapter 1, a study mandated by Congress in December 1983 in anticipation of its 1987 reauthorization of Chapter 1. The assessment occurred at the time the Reagan Administration was seriously challenging many of Congress's favorite educational programs, including Chapter 1. Despite their serious differences in views about Chapter 1, both Congress and the administration expected the assessment to serve their own needs and each group was worried that the other would have undue influence on the assessment. The article illustrates the politics associated with evaluation by describing the activities of the assessment, the responses of each of these two audiences, and the efforts of each side to control the assessment's agenda. It raises questions about whether an evaluation can really serve multiple audiences.