Which of the following children is most likely to be susceptible to misleading suggestions?

The choice of Andrew, a 4-year-old preschooler, as the child most susceptible to misleading suggestions aligns with developmental research on cognitive abilities and suggestibility in children. Younger children are typically in a stage of cognitive development where their memory and comprehension skills are still maturing.

At this age, children often lack the critical thinking skills necessary to assess the reliability of information. They may accept new information at face value, especially if it comes from an adult or a trusted figure, making them particularly vulnerable to suggestions that can distort their memories of events. This susceptibility is compounded by their limited ability to distinguish between imagination and reality, leading them to integrate misleading information into their existing memories more readily than older children.

As children grow older, like Sarah, Michael, and Jessica, they develop more sophisticated cognitive processes, allowing them to be more discerning about the information they receive and question contradictions. This increased critical thinking and memory differentiation typically makes older children less susceptible to misleading suggestive information than their younger counterparts.