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Mapping Memories: Do Sketchplans Help Young Adolescents Recall more Information about an Event?

A common practice among forensic interviewers in New Zealand involves asking children to draw a sketchplan of the location of the incident to help them recall and report more information about their experiences (Wolfman, Brown & Jose, 2016). There is no evidence to suggest, however, that this technique is useful when used alongside an exhaustive verbal interview. So, the purpose of the current study was to examine whether sketchplans, when used in conjunction with a forensically relevant interview protocol, help young adolescents recall more information about an event. Sixty-eight 11-13 year-old children viewed a staged magic show and, one month later, were interviewed using the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Investigative Interview Protocol. Following the interview, children were asked to either: draw a sketchplan, draw generally, or have a break and think about the event, and were then asked to report anything else they could remember. The visual aids (i.e. sketchplans and drawings) did not increase the amount of new information reported relative to the talk-only condition, but did help children maintain accuracy. Sketchplans did, however, help young adolescents recall location-based information about the event. The findings do not support the use of sketchplans as a tool for helping young adolescents recall more information about their experiences when best practice guidelines are followed. Sketchplans may be useful, however, when location details about the incident are required for the investigation.