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Rosendaul BJ, Su IA, Ceci SJ. Normative developmental vs. reverse developmental trends in memory distortion: a framework to investigate the impact of internal and external influences on memory and their relevance to legal decisions. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1232753. [PMID: 37663364 PMCID: PMC10469085 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1232753] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 08/02/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023] Open
Abstract
There are two opposing positions regarding the development of memory: the normative developmental position, and the reverse developmental position. The normative position, which has long been the default presupposition, supports the notion that susceptibility to memory distortion, including false memories, decreases with age. In contrast, the concept of "developmental reversals" supports the notion that susceptibility to memory distortion and false memories increases with age. Each perspective finds support from existing theories as well as from research on endogenous and exogenous sources of influence. In a legal context, having an accurate understanding of the developmental course of false memory can contribute on the one hand to mitigating wrongful convictions and, on the other hand, to appreciating the accuracy of children's statements when warranted. This review aims to integrate the existing literature regarding these seemingly opposite developmental courses and construct a framework outlining the conditions under which we may observe one age trend over the other. This entails an examination of the paradigms that have been invoked to support these competing positions, specifically developmental responses to internal vs. external sources of distortion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brittany J. Rosendaul
- Child Witness and Cognition Lab, Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States
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2
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Harmon-Jones SK, Richardson R. Adults who are more anxious and were anxiously attached as children report later first memories. Br J Psychol 2021; 113:455-478. [PMID: 34894150 DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2021] [Accepted: 11/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Here, we examined retrospective reports of adults' earliest autobiographical memory, the age of this report and whether the reported age was associated with exposure to early life adversity, current anxiety and childhood attachment. Across four studies, we found that reporting a later 'earliest' memory was associated with higher self-reported anxiety in both American (Studies 1, 2 and 4) and Australian (Study 3) samples. Furthermore, in Studies 2-4, we found that reporting a later earliest memory uniquely predicted anxiety when controlling for number of adverse childhood events (a risk factor for the development of anxiety). In Study 4, we established that this relation is partially mediated by childhood anxious attachment. Although we consistently demonstrated that later earliest memories were associated with current anxiety, we found little evidence for a relation between reported age at the time of earliest memory and childhood adversity. We also found no evidence of gender differences in the associations of interest. These results suggest that poorer memory of early childhood is associated with greater childhood anxious attachment and anxiety in adulthood. The implications of this work are discussed in terms of the adaptive nature of autobiographical memory and the development of a coherent life narrative.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Rick Richardson
- School of Psychology, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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3
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Chae Y, Goodman GS, Wang Y, Goodman M, McWilliams K, Shaver PR, Thompson RA, Widaman KF. Parents' attachment orientation, interviewers' support, and children's memory for a mildly distressing event. Memory 2021; 29:1384-1395. [PMID: 34694210 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2021.1988644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Parents' attachment orientations predict children's memory about distressing life events, such that parents who are less secure in close relationships tend to have children who are less accurate in their memory reports. This study examined whether socially supportive interviewing would reduce differences in children's memory performance associated with parents' attachment. Children (3 to 5 years, N = 63) and their primary caretakers took part in the Preschool Attachment Classification System (PACS), a moderately distressing event for children of preschool age that is based on the Strange Situation Procedure. Children's memory for the event was then tested shortly thereafter by either a supportive or a non-supportive interviewer. In the non-supportive condition, children whose parents scored higher on attachment avoidance provided lower proportions of correct free recall. However, the association was not significant for children in the supportive condition. In addition, higher parental attachment anxiety predicted lower proportions of correct free recall for children of highly avoidant parents, but not for children of parents lower in attachment avoidance. For direct questions, age differences in proportion correct and proportion incorrect favoured older children. Findings provide insight into interviewing techniques at time of memory retrieval that benefit children of insecure parents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoojin Chae
- Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA
| | - Gail S Goodman
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Yan Wang
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Miranda Goodman
- Department of Psychology, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL, USA
| | - Kelly McWilliams
- Department of Psychology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY, USA
| | - Phillip R Shaver
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Ross A Thompson
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Keith F Widaman
- Graduate School of Education, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA
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4
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Hritz AC, Ceci SJ. Lie for Me: Developmental Trends in Acquiescing to a Blatantly False Statement. Front Psychol 2021; 12:691276. [PMID: 34630205 PMCID: PMC8495062 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.691276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2021] [Accepted: 08/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
A pair of studies demonstrates that simply asking children to make a blatantly false accusation in the guise of helping others can result in both immediate and long-term false claims. In the pilot study, the initial willingness to make a blatantly false statement was associated with some children making false statements a week later despite being told that the first interviewer had made mistakes during the initial interview. On a positive note, the majority of participants accurately stated that they did not have first-hand knowledge of their accusation's accuracy. Across both studies, the rate of false accusation rates was high. The main experiment demonstrated that children who were young, possessed the lowest verbal intelligence or who were from the lowest SES homes made the most accusations. These findings illustrate not only the dangers of encouraging children to make false statements, but the ease and durability of making such false statements.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Stephen J Ceci
- Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States
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Principe GF, Kirkpatrick H, Langley S. A focus on accuracy in misinformed mothers puts young children at risk for false memories. J Exp Child Psychol 2021; 214:105274. [PMID: 34507183 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2021] [Revised: 07/29/2021] [Accepted: 07/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
This research examined how mothers' goal orientation and exposure to misinformation can shape how mothers engage their children in conversation about past experiences and consequently affect the accuracy of children's memory reports. To investigate this question, 169 mothers were asked to talk with their preschool-age children (Mage = 55 months, SD = 6.15; 90 female) about an earlier nonshared event. Some mothers were instructed to focus on eliciting an accurate account, whereas others were told to talk naturally as in everyday life. Before this conversation, some mothers in each goal condition were exposed to misleading information about what their children experienced. Mothers focused on accuracy exhibited more bias in their conversations than those centered on talking naturally. When later interviewed, children with accuracy-focused mothers made more false reports and recalled less correct details than those with natural-focused mothers. These trends were found even when mothers were not misinformed. The implications of these results for children's eyewitness memory and suggestibility are discussed.
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6
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Parent-child attachment security is associated with preschoolers' memory accuracy for emotional life events through sensitive parental reminiscing. J Exp Child Psychol 2021; 209:105168. [PMID: 33940484 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2021.105168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2020] [Revised: 01/21/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
There is considerable controversy regarding the accuracy and suggestibility of children's autobiographical memory for emotionally salient life events. Attachment perspectives of autobiographical memory development identify the attachment security of parent-child dyads and parents' emotional support and coherence during reminiscing with their children as critical mechanisms underlying children's memory accuracy and suggestibility. In the current investigation, 72 preschool-aged children (M = 4.01 years, SD = 0.85; 44 female) reminisced with their parents about times they felt happy, sad, scared, and angry. Children were then independently interviewed about these experiences by an unfamiliar researcher using free recall, specific questions (i.e., questions about factual details), and misleading questions (i.e., questions suggesting false details). Parents completed an assessment of their children's attachment security within the parent-child relationship. Results revealed significant indirect effects of parent-child attachment security on children's memory accuracy through parental sensitive guidance during reminiscing when cognitive (i.e., intelligence) and behavioral (i.e., temperament, behavior problems) covariates were statistically controlled. Parent-child attachment security was positively associated with parental sensitive guidance during reminiscing, which, in turn, was positively associated with the accuracy of children's independent reports. The findings support attachment perspectives of autobiographical memory by identifying emotionally sensitive and coherent reminiscing as a parenting behavior that explains in part associations between parent-child attachment security and children's independent memory accuracy for emotional life events.
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7
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The Relationship between Suggestibility, Fabrication, Distortion, and Trauma in Suspected Sexually Abused Children. SOCIAL SCIENCES 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/socsci10020037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Being a victim of abuse in childhood can lead to the development of trauma-related psychopathology, which could affect the testimony of the child victim. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a factor that can increase both the levels of suggestibility and the production of memory errors, such as confabulations, which can be identified in distortions and fabrications. No studies have analyzed the relationship between suggestibility, fabrications, distortions, and PTSD on samples of children and adolescents suspected of being sexually abused. This study aims to verify in a sample of 221 sexually abused children and adolescents the effect of PTSD, measured by Trauma Symptoms Checklist for Children, in increasing the levels of immediate and delayed suggestibility and the production of fabrications and distortions in immediate and delayed memory tasks, obtained by Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale 2, controlling age and non-verbal intelligence. Our results show that PTSD increases the levels of immediate and delayed suggestibility, but it has no effect on memory recall in immediate recall tasks. Moreover, PTSD leads to a greater number of distorted and fabricated information inserted in delayed memory. Forensic implications of PTSD consequences on memory tasks and suggestibility levels of sexually abused children are discussed.
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Vagni M, Maiorano T, Pajardi D. Effects of post-traumatic stress disorder on interrogative suggestibility in minor witnesses of sexual abuse. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-020-01253-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Klemfuss JZ, Olaguez AP. Individual Differences in Children's Suggestibility: An Updated Review. JOURNAL OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE 2020; 29:158-182. [PMID: 30142291 DOI: 10.1080/10538712.2018.1508108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2018] [Revised: 07/20/2018] [Accepted: 07/28/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The present review is intended as an overview of our current understanding of how children's individual characteristics, in terms of demographic, cognitive, and psycho-social variables, may influence their susceptibility to suggestion. The goals are to revisit conceptual models of the mechanisms of suggestibility, to provide an updated practical guide for practitioners, and to make recommendations for future research. Results suggest that children with intellectual impairment and those with nascent language skills may be particularly vulnerable to suggestion. Further, memory for separate events, theory of mind, executive function, temperament, and social competence may not be related to suggestibility, whereas additional work is needed to clarify the potential contributions of knowledge, stress, mental health, parental elaborative style, and adverse experiences/maltreatment to children's suggestibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Zoe Klemfuss
- Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
| | - Alma P Olaguez
- Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
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Ghafarimoghadam F, Dehghani-Arani F. Measurement of heart rate variability and cognitive abilities based on attachment styles in children with chronic medical conditions. Sci Rep 2019; 9:5254. [PMID: 30918301 PMCID: PMC6437196 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-41812-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2018] [Accepted: 03/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Recognizing the biopsychosocial dimensions of chronic medical conditions in children and preparing them to adapt to medical processes is one of the most significant issues in the field of health psychology. The aim of this study was to measure heart rate variability and cognitive abilities based on attachment style in children with chronic medical conditions. To this end, 45 children aged 12-15 years who had received a diagnosis of a chronic medical disease and were matched with the inclusion/exclusion criteria, were entered the study using available sampling method. These children were assigned to three groups of secure, avoidance and anxiety attachment style based on the Collins and Reid Attachment Scale. These groups had been demographically homogeneous. Then heart rate variability and cognitive abilities were measured. One-way ANOVA results showed a significant difference between the three groups in the heart rate variability and cognitive abilities. Post hoc test showed that children with secure attachment style had higher efficiency in heart rate variability and cognitive abilities. These results indicate that attachment style is one of the factors influencing the health status of children with chronic medical illness. These findings highlight the importance of paying attention to psychological factors, especially attachment and its role in the health status of children with chronic medical conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fahime Ghafarimoghadam
- Department of Psychology, University of Tehran, Dr Kardan Street, Nasr Bridge, Jalal Al Ahmad Street, Chamran Highway, Tehran, Iran
| | - Fateme Dehghani-Arani
- Department of Psychology, University of Tehran, Dr Kardan Street, Nasr Bridge, Jalal Al-Ahmad Street, Chamran Highway, Tehran, Iran.
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11
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A systematic review of the reliability of children’s event reports after discussing experiences with a naïve, knowledgeable, or misled parent. DEVELOPMENTAL REVIEW 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.dr.2018.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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12
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Milojevich HM, Quas JA. Parental Attachment and Children's Memory for Attachment-Relevant Stories. APPLIED DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE 2018; 21:14-29. [PMID: 29308006 DOI: 10.1080/10888691.2016.1140577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Despite evidence that parents' attachment is associated with children's memory, less is known about the mechanisms underlying this association or the contexts in which the association is most meaningful. The present study examined whether parents' attachment predicted children's memory for stories about attachment-related topics, whether the cohesiveness of children's stories mediated the association between attachment and memory, and whether the association varied by interview support at retrieval. Five- to 6-year-olds completed attachment-relevant stories while parents provided information about their romantic attachment. Children's stories were coded for cohesiveness. A week later, children's memory for their stories was tested by either a supportive or non-supportive interviewer. When the interview was non-supportive, greater parental avoidance was associated with poorer memory, whereas when the interview was supportive, greater parental avoidance was associated with fewer errors. Findings provide insight into the context under which parents' attachment is most influential in shaping children's memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen M Milojevich
- Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine
| | - Jodi A Quas
- Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine
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Chae Y, Goodman M, Goodman GS, Troxel N, McWilliams K, Thompson RA, Shaver PR, Widaman KF. How children remember the Strange Situation: The role of attachment. J Exp Child Psychol 2017; 166:360-379. [PMID: 29024847 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2017.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2016] [Revised: 06/21/2017] [Accepted: 09/05/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
This study tested predictions from Bowlby's attachment theory about children's memory and suggestibility. Young children (3-5years old, N=88; 76% Caucasians) and their parents took part in the Strange Situation Procedure, a moderately distressing event and "gold standard" for assessing children's attachment quality. The children were then interviewed about what occurred during the event. Children's age and attachment security scores positively predicted correct information in free recall and accuracy in answering specific questions. For children with higher (vs. lower) attachment security scores, greater distress observed during the Strange Situation Procedure predicted increased resistance to misleading suggestions. In addition, for children who displayed relatively low distress during the Strange Situation Procedure, significant age differences in memory and suggestibility emerged as expected. However, for children who displayed greater distress during the Strange Situation Procedure, younger and older children's memory performances were equivalent. Findings suggest that attachment theory provides an important framework for understanding facets of memory development with respect to attachment-related information and that distress may alter assumed age patterns in memory development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoojin Chae
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-1230, USA.
| | - Miranda Goodman
- Department of Psychology, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL 33711, USA
| | - Gail S Goodman
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
| | - Natalie Troxel
- Health Sciences Research Institute, University of California, Merced, CA 95353, USA
| | - Kelly McWilliams
- Department of Psychology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY 10019, USA
| | - Ross A Thompson
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Phillip R Shaver
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Keith F Widaman
- Graduate School of Education, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA
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Goodman GS, Jones O, McLeod C. Is There Consensus About Children's Memory and Suggestibility? JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE 2017; 32:926-939. [PMID: 30145963 DOI: 10.1177/0886260516657358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The modern scientific study of children's eyewitness memory was initially motivated, in important part, by the sensational preschool investigations and prosecutions of the 1980s and 1990s (e.g., the McMartin case, the Kelly Michaels case, the Country Walk case). These cases form the centerpiece of Professor Cheit's scholarly book, The Witch-Hunt Narrative. In recent years, researchers have made great strides in helping the legal system tackle some of the complex issues involved in child sexual abuse investigations. While commenting on Professor Cheit's book, we review areas of consensus regarding child forensic interviewing, areas of disconnect between scientific laboratory studies and needs of the legal system, and the potential effects of bias on the scientific enterprise relevant to Professor Cheit's treatise. Although we find that there is consensus in the field regarding a set of general principles, there is often room for disagreement in evaluating a particular case, and there is still much to be learned about how best to interview children when allegations of sexual abuse arise.
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Sun S, Greenhoot AF, Kelton R. When Parents Know Little about What Happened: Parent-guided Conversations, Stress, and Young Children's Eyewitness Memory. BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW 2016; 34:10-29. [PMID: 27041740 DOI: 10.1002/bsl.2231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2015] [Revised: 02/07/2016] [Accepted: 02/08/2016] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
This study examined how 4- to 7-year-olds' memories for a stressor were influenced by conversations with a parent who had little knowledge of the target event, and the stress children experienced before, during, and after the event. Children (N = 43) watched a mildly stressful video before talking about it with a parent. Parents were asked to focus on either the children's feelings or the content of the video itself. A researcher interviewed the children about their memory following the conversation. Behavioral and physiological measures of children's stress were collected at multiple stages. Children recalled more inaccurate information with the parent than with the interviewer. Younger age and parent insecure attachment were associated with poorer memory. Manipulation of parents' emotion orientation did not predict memory, but individual differences in the talk did, although in different ways from what would be expected from research on conversations about shared events. Less stress (according to self-reported happiness and observed negative affect) before and after, but not during, the stressor was linked with better memory. Implications for children's memory in legal settings are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shengkai Sun
- Shengkai Sun, Department of Psychology, University of Miami, 5151 San Amaro Dr, Coral Gables, FL, 33146, U.S.A
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Chae Y, Kulkofsky S, Debaran F, Wang Q, Hart SL. Low-SES Preschool Children's Eyewitness Memory: The Role of Narrative Skill. BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW 2016; 34:55-73. [PMID: 27117601 DOI: 10.1002/bsl.2242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2016] [Revised: 03/27/2016] [Accepted: 03/27/2016] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
This study investigated the relation between narrative skill and eyewitness memory in young children from low-socioeconomic status (SES) communities. A total of 176 children aged 3-5 years were interviewed about a conflict event they witnessed. The quality of their narratives about the event and their ability to narrate a story from a picture book were examined in relation to memory of the event. Comprehensive measures of individual differences in vocabulary skill, adaptive language use, and behavioral characteristics were also administered. The results revealed that children who produced longer, more descriptive, and more cohesive narratives about the event recalled more accurate details and made fewer memory errors, independent of their language ability and behavioral characteristics. The quality of story narratives did not make any independent contributions to memory. Child's age was a robust predictor of memory for the event. Implications of the findings for understanding eyewitness memory in low-SES children are discussed. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoojin Chae
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Texas Tech University, Box 41230, Lubbock, TX, 79409
| | - Sarah Kulkofsky
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Texas Tech University, Box 41230, Lubbock, TX, 79409
| | - Francisco Debaran
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Texas Tech University, Box 41230, Lubbock, TX, 79409
| | - Qi Wang
- Department of Human Development, Cornell University, MVR Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14853
| | - Sybil L Hart
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Texas Tech University, Box 41230, Lubbock, TX, 79409
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McDonnell CG, Valentino K, Comas M, Nuttall AK. Mother-child reminiscing at risk: Maternal attachment, elaboration, and child autobiographical memory specificity. J Exp Child Psychol 2015; 143:65-84. [PMID: 26630033 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2015.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2015] [Revised: 10/19/2015] [Accepted: 10/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Mother-child reminiscing, the process by which mothers and their children discuss past events and emotional experiences, has been robustly linked with child outcomes, including autobiographical memory. To advance previous work linking elaborative maternal reminiscing with child autobiographical memory specificity, the ability to generate and retrieve specific memories from one's past, it is essential to make distinctions among aspects of elaboration and to consider how maternal risk factors may influence the reminiscing context. The current study evaluated (a) an interaction between emotional and structural elaboration predicting child autobiographical memory specificity and (b) the potential moderating role of maternal adult attachment. Participants consisted of 95 preschool-aged children and their mothers. The sample was predominantly low income and racially diverse. Dyads completed a reminiscing task that was coded for emotional and structural elaboration. Mothers completed the Experiences in Close Relationships questionnaire (ECR-R) to assess attachment-related avoidance and anxiety, and children completed the Autobiographical Memory Test-Preschool Version (AMT-PV) to assess memory specificity. Results indicated that the association between structural reminiscing and child memory specificity was moderated by emotional elements of reminiscing. At high levels of emotional elaboration, mothers with high levels of structural elaboration had children with more specific memory than mothers with low levels of structural elaboration. Moreover, emotional elaboration (a) predicted less specific child memory without high structural support and (b) negatively predicted child specificity at high levels of maternal attachment avoidance and anxiety, a profile associated with fearful avoidance. Future directions and implications are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kristin Valentino
- Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
| | - Michelle Comas
- Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
| | - Amy K Nuttall
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
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18
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Hritz AC, Royer CE, Helm RK, Burd KA, Ojeda K, Ceci SJ. Children's suggestibility research: Things to know before interviewing a child. ANUARIO DE PSICOLOGÍA JURÍDICA 2015. [DOI: 10.1016/j.apj.2014.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
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19
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Chae Y, Kulkofsky S, Debaran F, Wang Q, Hart SL. Low-SES children's eyewitness memory: the effects of verbal labels and vocabulary skills. BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW 2014; 32:732-745. [PMID: 25393768 DOI: 10.1002/bsl.2145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Revised: 09/28/2014] [Accepted: 10/03/2014] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
This study examined the effects of the verbal labels procedure and vocabulary skills on low-socioeconomic status (SES) preschool children's eyewitness memory. Children (N = 176) aged 3-5 years witnessed a conflict event and were then questioned about it in either a standard or a verbal labels interview. Findings revealed that children with higher rather than lower vocabulary skills produced more complete and accurate memories. Children who were given the verbal labels interview recalled more information, which included both correct and incorrect details. Overall, the verbal labels procedure did not improve children's performance on direct questions, but children with low vocabulary skills answered direct questions more accurately if they were given the verbal labels interview than when they were not. Implications of the findings for memory performance of low-SES children are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoojin Chae
- Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Texas Tech University, Box 41230, Lubbock, TX, 79409
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