Do, Show, and Tell: Children's Event Memories Acquired through Direct Experience, Observation, and Stories

To investigate how source of event information influences children's event representations, 5- and 6-year-old children were exposed to a novel event through direct experience, observation, or a story. 2 of the 4 scenes comprising the event contained actions that were logically organized, and the remaining 2 scenes contained actions that were arbitrary in their organization. Children received either 1 or 3 exposures to the event. For children receiving multiple exposures, 2 scenes contained actions that varied across exposures. A few days following their last exposure, children were asked to verbally recall and reenact the event. Reports were generally more complete, organized, and accurate when the event was directly experienced compared to when it was observed or heard about through a story. However, the impact of information source interacted with interview (recall, reenactment) and number of event exposures. Furthermore, children's sensitivity to event structure was dependent on information source and exposure. These results highlight the importance of information source in the formation of children's event representations.     

Children's recall of medical experiences: the impact of stress

OBJECTIVE: The study compared children's reports of two medical events, to assess the effects of the type of event on children's recall. Additionally, the study examined the effect of props on children's event reports. METHOD: Twenty children between the ages of 37 and 67 months were interviewed following either a voiding cysto-urethrogram (VCUG) or a pediatric assessment (PA) at a hospital. Interviews were conducted between 6 and 8 days after the event and included a doll and prop items. RESULTS: Ratings of stress were significantly higher for children who underwent the VCUG than those who underwent the PA. Children who experienced the VCUG procedure reported more correct information than the children who experienced the PA. Age was correlated with the total amount of correct information reported. Stress levels were correlated with both errors and accuracy of information. CONCLUSIONS: Children who experienced a stressful medical procedure remembered more than children who experienced a neutral medical event, although this increase in amount recalled was at the expense of accuracy. These findings suggest that stress impacts negatively on recall: however, the unique and structured nature of the VCUG procedure compared to the PA, and the familiarity of the PA prop items to the children who experienced the VCUG procedure, may also have contributed to differences in recall of the two events.     

Parameters of remembering and forgetting in the transition from infancy to early childhood

The ability to recall is something that most intact adults take for granted. For much of the last century, this feature of mental life was not considered to extend to very young children. There now is evidence that 1- to 2-year-olds are able to recall specific events after delays of several months. Over the short term, 1- to 2-year-olds' recall is affected by the same factors that affect older children's recall; it is not clear whether similar effects are apparent over the long term. Moreover, although age-related increases in long-term recall are assumed, there have been few empirical tests of the question. We examined recall by 14- to 32-month-olds for events experienced at 13 to 20 months. Using elicited imitation of novel multistep event sequences we examined effects of (a) delay length, (b) age at the time of experience, (c) temporal structure of events, (d) mode of experience of events, and (e) availability of verbal reminders, on long-term recall. Participants were 360 children enrolled at 13 (n = 90), 16 (n = 180), and 20 (n = 90) months. All of the 13-month-olds and half of the 16-month-olds were tested on 3-step event sequences; all of the 20-month-olds and half of the 16-month-olds were tested on 4-step event sequences. Within each age and step-length group, equal numbers of children were tested after intervals of 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months (n = 18 per cell). Children were tested on a variety of sequence types. For half of the events, imitation was permitted prior to the delay; for the other half, children were not permitted imitation. At delayed testing, children experienced a recall period during which they were cued by the event-related props alone, followed by a period in which recall was cued both by the event-related props and by verbal labels for the event sequences. Within step-length groups, the length of time for which older and younger children showed evidence of memory did not differ. Nevertheless, when the children were prompted by the event-related props alone, there were age-related differences in the robustness of children's memories (as indexed by higher levels of recall for older children relative to younger children). When the children were prompted by the props and by verbal labels for the event sequences, at the longer retention intervals, there were age-related differences in the robustness of children's memories and in the reliability with which recall was evidenced (as indexed by the larger numbers of older children evincing recall). Age-related effects were particularly apparent on children's ordered recall. Across the entire age range, the children were similarly affected by the variables of sequence type, opportunity for imitation, and verbal reminding.     

Reducing misinformation effects in children with cognitive interviews: dissociating recollection and familiarity

Two experiments examined the effect of a cognitive interview on 4- and 8-year-old children's correct recall and subsequent reporting of misinformation. Children viewed an event followed by misinformation that was read or self-generated either before or after a cognitive interview. Children were then given a recognition test under inclusion and exclusion instructions. A cognitive interview elicited more correct details than a control interview. Age-related changes were found such that the 8-year-old children's reports were more complete and they recalled more correct person, action, object, and location details than the 4-year-old children. A cognitive interview given after postevent misinformation reduced children's reporting of misinformation at interview and reduced reporting of self-generated misinformation at test. Process dissociation analyses revealed that recollection increased but familiarity decreased with age.     

Developmental Changes in Event Memory

Do developmental differences exist in children's organization of event memories? We explored this question by examining children's recall of standard features of a repeated event versus features that deviated from that event. 4- and 7-year-old children experienced an initially unfamiliar laboratory event (standard event) 1 or 3 times. Following the last visit, deviations from the standard event were introduced (deviation event). Children's recall was assessed 1 week later under free recall and contextual recall conditions. Younger children had more difficulty than older children distinguishing between the standard and deviation visits. That is, 4-year-olds were more confused regarding which event features occurred in the different event visits. 7-year-olds, in contrast, did a better job of correctly remembering the features of the standard and deviation visits. Implications for developmental changes in the organization of general and specific event memory are discussed.     

Increasing Steps in Recall of Events: Factors Facilitating Immediate and Long-Term Memory in 13.5- and 16.5-Month-Old Children

Children late in the second year of life show patterns of event recall similar to those of older children: (a) well-ordered immediate and delayed recall, and (b) facilitation of recall by familiarity and by enabling relations. We used elicited imitation to test whether the patterns extend to children early in the second year. In Experiment 1, 13.5- and 16.5-month-olds accurately recalled familiar and novel 2-act sequences immediately and after a 1-week delay. For 16.5-month-olds, recall was facilitated by familiarity and by enabling relations; for 13.5-month-olds, only enabling relations facilitated recall. In Experiment 2, verbal cues were used to test immediate and 1-week delayed recall of 3-act sequences. For both ages, recall was facilitated by familiarity and by enabling relations. Experiment 3 verified that the verbal information served to cue recall of previously experienced events, not to "suggest" sequences that could be performed. Together the results demonstrate that children as young as 13 months can recall specific events after a delay. They also suggest development in sensitivity to factors that facilitate recall.     

Preserving the Past: An Early Interview Improves Delayed Event Memory in Children With Intellectual Disabilities

The influence of an early interview on children's (N = 194) later recall of an experienced event was examined in children with mild and moderate intellectual disabilities (CWID; 7–12 years) and typically developing (TD) children matched for chronological (7–12 years) or mental (4–9 years) age. Children previously interviewed were more informative, more accurate, and less suggestible. CWID (mild) recalled as much information as TD mental age matches, and were as accurate as TD chronological age matches. CWID (moderate) recalled less than TD mental age matches but were as accurate. Interviewers should elicit CWID's recall as early as possible and consider developmental level and severity of impairments when evaluating eyewitness testimony.     

The effect of event repetition on the production of story grammar in children's event narratives

Objective

This study examined the effect of event repetition on the amount and nature of story-grammar produced by children when recalling the event.

Method

Children aged 4 years (N = 50) and 7 years (N = 56) participated in either 1 or 6 occurrences of a highly similar event where details varied across the occurrences. Half the children in each age and event group recalled the last/single occurrence 5-6 days later and the other half recalled the last/single occurrence after 5-6 weeks (the final and single occurrence was the same). Children's free recall responses were classified according to the number and proportion of story-grammar elements (Stein &; Glenn, 1979—setting, initiating event, internal response, plan, attempt, direct consequence, and resolution) as well as the prevalence of causal links between the individual story-grammar elements.

Results

More story-grammar detail and more links between individual story-grammar elements were reported about the final compared to single occurrence. The amount of story-grammar increased with age and decreased over time. Further, an interaction was revealed such that the effect of retention interval on the production of story-grammar was negligible for older children who experienced the repeated event.

Conclusions

Event repetition has a beneficial effect on the production of children's story-grammar content in situations where event details varied from occasion to occasion. This study highlights the importance of eliciting free recall when conducting evidential interviews with child witnesses about repeated events.     

Children's memories for painful cancer treatment procedures: implications for distress

Children (ages 3 to 18, N = 55) diagnosed with leukemia were tested for their memories of lumbar punctures (LPs), a repeated and painful part of the cancer treatment protocol. Memory for both event details and the child's emotional responses was assessed one week after the LP. Children of all ages displayed considerable accuracy for event details, and accuracy increased with age. Overall recall accuracy for event details and emotional responses was similar. Recall among children given oral Versed was similar to that among children not given Versed. Finally, higher distress predicted greater exaggerations in negative memory 1 week later (although controlling for age weakened this relationship); moreover, greater exaggerations in negative memory predicted higher distress at a subsequent LP. These results indicate that children's memories play an important role in their experience of distress during repeated stressful events.     

Magic memories: young children's verbal recall after a 6-year delay

This report describes the first prospective study specifically designed to assess children's verbal memory for a unique event 6 years after it occurred. Forty-six 27- to 51-month-old children took part in a unique event and were interviewed about it twice, after 24-hr and 6-year delays. During the 6-year interview, 9 children verbally recalled the event, including 2 who were under 3 years old when the event occurred. This may be the most convincing evidence to date that such early experiences can be verbally recalled after long delays. These data have important implications for current theories of memory development and childhood amnesia and underscore some of the problems associated with evaluating the veracity of early memories under less controlled conditions.     

Does God Make It Real? Children’s Belief in Religious Stories From the Judeo‐Christian Tradition

Four- to 6-year-old children (N = 131) heard religious or nonreligious stories and were questioned about their belief in the reality of the story characters and events. Children had low to moderate levels of belief in the characters and events. Children in the religious story condition had higher levels of belief in the reality of the characters and events than did children in the nonreligious condition; this relation strengthened with age. Children who used God as an explanation for the events showed higher levels of belief in the factuality of those events. Story familiarity and family religiosity also affected children's responses. The authors conclude that God's involvement in a story influences children's belief in the reality of the characters and events in that story.     

Inferences and recall at ages four and seven

Inferences and recall at ages 4 and 7 were studied as a function of the cause of a target event, the presence and timing of questions prior to recall, and the type of inference demanded by the questions. 7-year-olds inferred and recalled well with stories containing any of the causal connections employed in the study. 4-year-olds performed better when physical causes, rather than either psychological causes or enabling relations, connected events. Timing of questions did not affect the 7-year-olds' inferences, but asking questions interfered with their recall. Questions about story events aided the 4-year-olds' ability to make inferences and to recall, especially when causal connections were least specified and when questions were asked following the story. 4- and 7-year-olds also differed in responding to demands for 3 specific types of inference. 4-year-olds produced significantly more unconstrained inferences than logical or constrained informational inferences. 7-year-olds were most responsive to logical inference questions, and produced significantly more logical than constrained inferences.     

Children's eyewitness memory: effects of participation and forensic context.

We examined effects of participation and forensic context on 4-year-old children's testimony. Children in "participant" and "police" conditions actively participated in games with a "babysitter"; each child in the "observer" condition watched a videotape of a child and the babysitter playing. Eleven days later, children were individually questioned about the event. Before the interview began, children in the police condition talked to a police officer who said the babysitter might have done something bad. Comparison of participant- and observer-condition performance indicated that participation increased free-recall accuracy concerning actions that took place and lowered suggestibility. Comparison of participant- and police-condition performance indicated that forensic context led to increased error in free recall and additional comments to misleading questions. However, forensic context also resulted in higher accuracy on an age-identification task and did not affect children's accuracy in answering abuse-related questions.     

Children's eyewitness memory for a repeated event

OBJECTIVE: This study examined a significant issue for chronic sexual abuse investigations: Children's eyewitness testimony about repeated events. The few previous studies focused on preschoolers and none used the present methodology of presenting repeated events differing slightly in their details, as would happen in chronic abuse. METHOD: One group of 6- to 7-year-olds played individually with an experimenter on one occasion; the other group experienced three such events, with some details remaining the same and others changing. In a phased interview, children were questioned about the initial event. RESULTS: For details which stayed the same, the children who experienced three events had more accurate memories. They had poorer memories than the single-event group for details which were changed in the later events; however, this was due to interference errors, with errors of omission and commission being lower than in the single-event group. Children conveyed clearly that inappropriate touching did not occur. CONCLUSIONS: Children who experience repeated events have increased recall for repeated details but confuse the timing of details which change across events. The findings support previous suggestions that (a) it is unrealistic to expect children to be able to report repeated events without some confusion about timing of details and (b) children are resistant to misleading questions about abuse.     

Psychosocial factors influencing competency of children's statements on sexual trauma

Objectives

The objectives of this study are to assess children's competence to state their traumatic experience and to determine psychosocial factors influencing the competency of children's statements, such as emotional factors of children and parents and trauma-related variables, in Korean child sex abuse victims.

Methods

We enrolled 214 children, who visited “Sunflower Children's Center” for sexual abuse. The children were aged 8-13 years. The children's parent were surveyed using questionnaires [Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory(STAI)] to obtain demographic information, traumatic event profiles and self-report scale. Children completed psychological measures as follows: Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS), Traumatic Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC). The modified-Criteria-Based Content Analysis (CBCA) was used to assess children's statements. ANOVA, independent t-test, Pearson correlation were used. All statistics were demonstrated using SPSS 12.0.

Results

Modified-CBCA scores did not differ according to children's level of depression and anxiety. Children with parents who showed supportive reactions, scored significantly higher on the modified-CBCA scores than those with unsupportive parents. Children with severely depressed parents had lower modified-CBCA scores than those with less depressed parents. Modified-CBCA scores were significantly higher in participants who experienced a single traumatic event than those who had multiple events. However, the severity of sexual abuse, relationship with the perpetrator, types of disclosure, and duration of initial disclosure did not show significant differences in capability of statement.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the competence of statements in Korean sexually child sex abuse victims is related to parental emotional states and support rather than children's factors such as psychopathology or age, and appears to be more reliable with a single traumatic experience. Therefore, promoting parental support through psychoeducation is one of the most important things to be done to help children overcome psychologic trauma but also enhance the accuracy of their statement.     

Children's Memory for Traumatic Injury

Children between 2 and 13 years who suffered traumatic injury necessitating hospital emergency room treatment were recruited as subjects. They (and adult witnesses) were interviewed a few days and 6 months later, using free and probed recall, about both injury and hospital treatment. Children at all ages were able to provide considerable information about both stressful events, although the amount of detail increased with age. They also made few commission errors. Surprisingly, children's distress at time of injury did not affect the amount or accuracy of their recall of that event, whereas distress during hospital treatment did decrease recall. A tripartite classification into 3 categories of detail was used: central, peripheral-inside the emotional events, or peripheral-outside those events. Children's recall differed depending upon detail category. Implications for children's testimony are discussed.     

Children''s Use of Anatomically Detailed Dolls to Recount an Event

The use of anatomically detailed dolls in child sexual abuse investigations has raised several controversial issues related to important theoretical questions in developmental psychology. The present study was designed to examine some of these issues in a methodologically sound experiment. 80 3- and 5-year-old children experienced a social interaction with a male confederate and were later tested under 1 of 4 recall conditions: reenactment with anatomically detailed dolls, reenactment with regular dolls, free recall with visual cues, or free recall without visual cues. The children were also asked a variety of specific and misleading questions, some of them dealing with acts associated with abuse ("He took your clothes off, didn't he?"). Both anatomically detailed and regular dolls along with other props aided 5-year-olds more than 3-year-olds in recounting the event. To use increased rather than decreased age differences. Anatomically detailed dolls did not foster false reports of abuse. Overall, 3-year-olds were more suggestible than 5-year-olds. The findings have implications for children's testimony in child abuse cases and for psychological theories concerning the effects of stimulus support on children's memory.     

Describing individual incidents of sexual abuse: a review of research on the effects of multiple sources of information on children's reports

OBJECTIVE: For successful prosecution of child sexual abuse, children are often required to provide reports about individual, alleged incidents. Although verbally or mentally rehearsing memory of an incident can strengthen memories, children's report of individual incidents can also be contaminated when they experience other events related to the individual incidents (e.g., informal interviews, dreams of the incident) and/or when they have similar, repeated experiences of an incident, as in cases of multiple abuse. METHOD: Research is reviewed on the positive and negative effects of these related experiences on the length, accuracy, and structure of children's reports of a particular incident. RESULTS: Children's memories of a particular incident can be strengthened when exposed to information that does not contradict what they have experienced, thus promoting accurate recall and resistance to false, suggestive influences. When the encountered information differs from children's experiences of the target incident, however, children can become confused between their experiences-they may remember the content but not the source of their experiences. CONCLUSIONS: We discuss the implications of this research for interviewing children in sexual abuse investigations and provide a set of research-based recommendations for investigative interviewers.     

The roles of prior experience and the timing of misinformation presentation on young children's event memories

The current study addressed how the timing of interviews affected children's memories of unique and repeated events. Five- to six-year-olds (N=125) participated in activities 1 or 4 times and were misinformed either 3 or 21 days after the only or last event. Although single-experience children were subsequently less accurate in the 21- versus 3-day condition, the timing of the misinformation session did not affect memories of repeated-experience children regarding invariant details. Children were more suggestible in the 21- versus 3-day condition for variable details when the test occurred soon after misinformation presentation. Thus, timing differentially affected memories of single and repeated events and depended on the combination of event-misinformation and misinformation-test delays rather than the overall retention interval.