Abstract
The concept of suggestibility is not new, with famous examples like the Salem Witch Trials that date back for centuries. These examples differ from the typical experimental studies of suggestibility that are carried out in the laboratory today, and they are occasionally mistakenly dismissed as instances of contagions, peer conformity, séances, or “mass hysterias,” rather than as examples of suggestibility. However, there is merit to defining suggestibility broadly enough to include such phenomena. Doing so takes us beyond the purely cognitive factors involved in suggestibility to reveal the social and cultural influences and the diverse conditions that give rise to reporting errors. With such a broadened definition, suggestive forces can be seen through historical and cultural perspectives, rather than as an exclusively cognitive phenomenon.
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Ceci, S., Hritz, A., Royer, C. (2016). Understanding Suggestibility. In: O'Donohue, W., Fanetti, M. (eds) Forensic Interviews Regarding Child Sexual Abuse. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21097-1_8
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