Abstract
This study investigated whether the phenomenon of verbal overshadowing (Schooler & Engstler-Schooler, 1990) was observable in the accuracy of facial recognition by young children. Children ages 3-6 years (18 boys and 19 girls, M=5:4) watched a live event in which a female storyteller and a male assistant performed a picture-story show. Approximately 24 hours after witnessing the event, the children were asked to recall what the event was like and were given facial identification tests for the two targets, under either description or control conditions. In the description condition, participants gave a verbal description of features of the face and hairstyle preceding the facial identification tests. The data showed that children in the description condition tended to be less accurate in facial recognition and that their descriptions of the person were uninformative. These results are discussed in relation to cognitive processes underlying the verbal-overshadowing effect and practical issues related to eyewitness testimony by young children.
