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Otago Daily Times
August 16 1999
Idea inspired by Ellis case
By Blair Mayston
Peter Ellis was convicted six years ago of abusing children in his
care at the Christchurch Civic Crèche.
But publicity surrounding two appeals against his conviction, and his
continued insistence he is innocent, have kept the case firmly in the minds
of thousands of New Zealanders.
One of those is Elisabeth Taylor, a student at Columba
College, in Dunedin.
"I was shocked that someone in such a position of trust could betray it
like that," Elisabeth (17), who babysits a lot, said of Ellis.
But when talk arose that Ellis had been convicted on the basis of unreliable
evidence from children, Elisabeth started to wonder - how reliable is a young
child's memory?
Elisabeth's curiosity on that matter resulted in her winning top prize
yesterday at the Genesis Energy Otago Science and Technology Fair, with a
project titled "Differences in Memory During Childhood: Implications for
the Courtroom".
Interviews with the 20 children involved in her project had shown 11 and
12-year-olds remembered more than 5 and 6-year-olds when asked open
questions, such as "How much do you remember about the video?".
The result was the same in response to direct questions, such as "What
colour was the teddy bear in the video?", she said.
But she also found the accuracy of the answers given by both age groups was
the same. "So, in a courtroom, what a 5 or 6-year-old says can be given
just as much weight," she said.
Her project was nominated for the Genesis Energy National Science and
Technology Fair, which she will attend in Wellington in December.
It also won a Genesis Energy Award and an Otago Institute award.
About 300 students, from form 1 to 7 classes in 27 Otago schools, entered the
fair.
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