Gail S. Goodman - US grants

Goodman 9619034 The current debate concerning the validity of recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse has significant theoretical and legal implications. This research promises to answer several important questions pertinent to the debate. First, what are the effects of interviewers' expectancies on adults' true and false reports of childhood events? Second, what are the effects of guided visualizations combined with high expectancy on recovering memories of childhood. Third, what distinguishes adults true from false memories?, What are laypeople's abilities to discriminate between true and false memories? And, finally, what individual differences are important in the creation of false reports of childhood events. Two experiments focusing on expectancy and visualization and their effects on false reports are being conducted. Community residents and college students serve as participants. Family members provide information about childhood events and false memories are created by the investigators. Analyses of variance and correlational methods are used to analyze the data. The results will provide fundamental information about reconstructive memory as well as shed light on the current legal controversy regarding false memory. %%% The current debate concerning the validity of recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse has significant theoretical and legal implications. This research promises to answer several important questions pertinent to the debate. First, what are the effects of interviewers' expectancies on adults' true and false reports of childhood events? Second, what are the effects of guided visualizations combined with high expectancy on recovering memories of childhood. Third, what distinguishes adults true from false memories?, What are laypeople's abilities to discriminate between true and false memories? And, finally, what individual differences are important in the creation of false reports of childhood events. Two experiments focusing on expectancy and visualization and their effects on false reports are being conducted. Community residents and college students serve as participants. Family members provide information about childhood events and false memories are created by the investigators. Analyses of variance and correlational methods are used to analyze the data. The results will provide fundamental information about reconstructive memory as well as shed light on the current legal controversy regarding false memory. ***

This project examines false memory, that is, why one remembers events that have not occurred. In particular, the study will investigate the conditions under which children and adults reject the occurrence of false events due to a strategic use of event memorability. It has previously been suggested that individuals' evaluations of event memorability are used heuristically as a basis for decision making about whether events occurred. This heuristic is termed the "metacognitive strategy." The objective of the project is to examine the conditions under which children and adults utilize event memorability heuristically, that is use the metacognitive strategy, to reject false events. Specifically, the proposed research attempts to answer the following questions: 1) Do developmental differences exist in the rate of correct rejection of memorable and non-memorable items, and, if so, what are the implications of age differences for understanding metacognitive strategy utilization? 2) How do encoding and retrieval conditions affect rejection of memorable versus non-memorable events? 3) Can the use of the memorability heuristic be detected in the rejection of false autobiographical events? The findings will have theoretical relevance because they will shed light on strategies used to reject false events. This will inform the legal system about conditions under which witnesses are less likely to create false memories, preventing inaccurate testimony and miscarriage of justice.

Most studies in the false-memory literature have focused on how people come to report that a false event occurred. In contrast, this research focuses on how people decide that an event did not occur. In some forensically relevant contexts, individuals may be questioned about numerous possible events, some of which occurred and some of which did not (e.g., in child abuse investigations, children are typically questioned about all types of abuse even if only one type is suspected; in adult therapy sessions, adults may be asked about numerous types of victimization experiences, even if multiple victimization was not initially mentioned). In such situations, what psychological mechanisms can potentially protect children and adults from forming false memories? The answer to this question is crucial from both a theoretical and applied perspective. From a theoretical perspective, although appreciation of factors promoting false-memory formation is extremely important for theories of memory, such theories must also include principles of false-memory rejection. False-memory rejection may be governed by principles that are functionally distinct from those affecting false-memory acceptance. Memory theories must thus be able to explain false-memory rejection. From an applied perspective, understanding false-memory rejection may be key to improvement of forensic interviews and reduction of faulty eyewitness memory reports, which can result in serious miscarriage of justice. Despite the theoretical and applied relevance, little is known about how individuals perform false-memory rejection. Some of the few studies conducted in this area indicate that adults use the memorability of an event strategically to guard against false-memory formation. That is, if an event is highly memorable, its occurrence should be remembered; failure to recall the event is therefore taken as evidence that it did not occur. Do children also use this same memorability-based strategy? Previous research by the principal investigators identified age differences in this memorability-based strategy, using a list learning procedure and interviews about false autobiographical events. Specifically, it was found that young children (5-year-olds) did not use memorability to make decisions about the nonoccurrence of an event or did so in a limited fashion (7-year-olds), despite the fact that they explicitly recognized differences in event memorability. In this research, only older children (9-year-olds) and adults correctly rejected high-memorability compared to low-memorability false events. Little is known, however, about the mechanisms that underlie these developmental differences or about the forensically relevant variables (i.e., interview instructions) that may influence use of the memorability-based strategy.

First, the research explains developmental differences in use of the memorability-based strategy. Participants will be interviewed about true and false autobiographical events. For each event, participants are either asked to tell the experimenter all they can remember about the event or will receive additional information. Specifically, participants either receive information about the event's memorability (i.e., the necessary premise for the use of the strategy), or, in addition, be told that, by considering the event's memorability, they can help correctly decide whether or not the event happened (i.e., the memorability-based strategy). The extent to which providing information at retrieval affects children's rejection of high-memorability false events will shed light on the factors determining young children's use of the memorability-based strategy. Second, the proposed research determines whether explicit instructions to use memorability as a basis for rejecting the occurrence of an event reduce misinformation effects in comparison with source-monitoring instructions. Participants experience witness high- and low-memorability events, receive misleading information about them, and then be questioned about the occurrence or non-occurrence of the events. At the time of retrieval, participants will be questioned either without any specific instructions or after receiving instructions derived from the memorability-based strategy or source-monitoring principles. Third, the proposed research will examine whether a memorability-based strategy can be executed in contexts that may challenge individuals. Reliance on it, namely after individuals are pressured to produce reports of false events, may create difficulties for individuals.

The present study concerns how the acquisition of social information, specifically knowledge about personal characteristics, influences young children's ability to recall and report information. Two forms of social knowledge will be systematically examined, familiarity and stereotypes. Research on stereotypes and generalized event representations in particular suggests that development differences exist in semantic-memory dependence for recollection, with younger children at times being more semantic-memory dependent than are older children. The present study examines this notion in the context of children's memory for a one-time event. One hundred forty eight 4- to 5-year olds will participate. The study will conform to a 2 (age) x 2 (stereotype treatment) x 2 (familiarity treatment) x 2 (interview session) factorial design. Results will have theoretical and applied implications relevant to memory development generally and to child eyewitness memory specifically.

There has been increasing interest in children's ability to report accurate memories and resist false suggestions. Social and emotional factors may help us understand the mechanisms that govern children's memory and suggestibility. A socio-emotional factor that may affect children's memory and suggestibility is the quality of the attachment relationship between parent and child. In theory, children's attachment can be characterized as high in avoidance and/or high in anxiety versus low in avoidance and/or low in anxiety. Children low in avoidance and anxiety are described as securely attached. Preliminary evidence suggests that avoidantly attached children, whose bids for care have likely been rejected or belittled, display poorer memory and increased suggestibility for attachment-related information, compared with securely attached children. Because abused children are frequently insecurely attached, it follows that these children may require special interviewing techniques to ensure accurate memory and reduce the risk of suggestibility. On a practical level, this topic is particularly significant because abused children are often questioned in forensic settings. Before special interviewing techniques can be validated, basic scientific research is needed to establish if and how attachment may affect children's memory and suggestibility. To further our understanding of relations between attachment insecurity and memory/suggestibility, this project will identify the mechanisms underlying the information processing propensities of avoidant individuals. Whether the effects of attachment on memory extend to nonattachment-related information will also be examined. These issues will be investigated in 3- and 5-year-olds by examining factors that affect encoding/attention, storage/ rehearsal, and retrieval. Three experiments will be conducted. In each experiment, attachment and nonattachment stimuli will be presented and children's memory and suggestibility assessed. Children's and parents' attachment orientation will be determined. The first experiment focuses on encoding, the second on storage/rehearsal, and the third on retrieval factors. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses will be performed. Expected outcomes include that avoidantly attached children will avert attention away from attachment-related stimuli but not nonattachment-related stimuli (Experiment 1), and that these children will avoid rehearsal of attachment-related topics (Experiment 2). To the extent that attachment-related information is encoded, avoidant children should be better able to access such information in an emotionally supportive context (Experiment 3). If avoidant children's main difficulty is at retrieval (i.e., at the time of memory report), this would have especially important implications for how children are questioned, for instance, in school and forensic contexts.

This project will have both theoretical and applied significance. This project will be among the first to examine the integration of memory development and socio-emotional development. Consequently, results from the project will advance scientific knowledge in several ways. First, this project will establish the association between attachment and children's memory and suggestibility. The project will also pinpoint the specific stages of memory affected by attachment. Finally, the investigators will determine whether the memory-attachment relationship depends on the child's age. The project is also relevant to forensic and educational practices. Specifically, the findings will shed light on forensic interview strategies, especially for children with avoidant attachment orientations (e.g., as a result of child maltreatment), to maximize memory accuracy while minimizing memory distortion. The results may reveal that forensic interviewers currently use nonoptimal strategies when interviewing insecurely attached children, and the experiments will suggest alternative routes to better insecurely attached children's memory reports. Moreover, academic learning heavily involves memory, which may be affected by attachment history. Children who have been belittled or rejected at home may suffer from difficulties performing memory tasks in certain school contexts. This research may shed light on the source of those difficulties and on the educational strategies most likely the insecurely attached child's ability to encode, store, and/or retrieve information.

This research examines whether child maltreatment is associated with deficits in children's eyewitness memory and executive function (EF). In this study, researchers also investigate potential interactions between children's age and maltreatment background (maltreated vs. nonmaltreated) as influences on eyewitness memory and EF performance. Moreover, researchers examine effects of emotional arousal on eyewitness memory in maltreated and nonmaltreated children by examining their memory for an argument between a man and woman in an emotion-evoking condition. Previous research on children's eyewitness memory has focused primarily on nonmaltreated children. As a result, little is known about eyewitness memory in children with maltreatment histories, despite such children's frequent questioning by authorities (e.g., in child abuse and domestic violence investigations).

Recent studies suggest that maltreatment experience is related to changes in EF performance relative to that of controls. Further, several studies find that EF (e.g., working memory) ability predicts children's eyewitness memory performance. In this project, maltreated and nonmaltreated children between 9 and 15 years of age complete various EF tasks, including measures of working memory, response inhibition, attentional control, and cognitive flexibility. Half of the children in each age/maltreatment category are exposed to emotion-evoking stimuli (an argument between a man and woman) prior to completing the memory task, whereas the other half will be exposed to a comparable, emotionally neutral event. Mental health and trauma-history measures are included. Main effects of age and maltreatment status, and an Age-Maltreatment Status interaction, are predicted for both EF and eyewitness memory measures.

Mediational analyses are performed to investigate possible mediators of relations between maltreatment status and eyewitness memory (e.g., EF, state anxiety, and trauma-related psychopathology). Results will indicate whether emotion-evoking stimuli differentially influence the eyewitness memory performance of children with (and without) a history of maltreatment.

When children are eyewitnesses to crime, their initial reports typically are not to the authorities. Rather, children likely first disclose crucial information to parents. When parents discuss shared past events with their children, an elaborative conversation style is associated with children's accurate, detailed memory reports. In contrast, parental bias and misinformation can lead to children's false reports. However, little is known about children's initial discussions with caregivers following an event witnessed only by children. Even less evidence exists about how caregivers' pre-conceived notions affect their discussion style. The proposed research will examine parent-child conversations about an unshared event and associations with children's memory accuracy. In addition, the effect of biasing information on both parent conversational style and children's memory will be examined.

132 parent-child dyads will come to the laboratory where the 3- to 6-year-olds will experience a play session, while their parents wait outside. Parents will be randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: biased (given false information about the play session), nonbiased (given no false information about the play session), or irrelevant (discuss a separate event). Parents in the biased and nonbiased conditions will be instructed to find out as much as possible about what occurred. Finally, for all groups, children's memory for the play session will be tested.

New knowledge will be gained about parent-child conversations by examining how parents discuss past events about which children are the "experts." In addition children's eyewitness memory research will be extended by investigating effects of biased parental interviewing on children's memory. This research is relevant to forensic settings. Forensic interviewing techniques are becoming scientifically based, leaving little room for misinformation and suggestion. The present research will extend beyond professional interviewing, to explore how initial disclosures to parents may be sources of memory error.

Some of the most serious crimes investigated by the legal system involve adults' memories of traumatic childhood experiences. Laws that permit adults to initiate criminal and civil actions about childhood victimization have raised scientific and legal interest in eyewitness identification of persons involved in acts that occurred decades ago. The present study will help guide theory and application when adults exposed to early trauma are asked to identify perpetrators of legally relevant actions experienced in childhood. The justice system will profit from development of scientifically based techniques to better ensure the accuracy of eyewitness identifications after long delays. The study will also aid the judiciary by providing guidance about the validity of techniques in cases where victims are asked to identify perpetrators from childhood.

This research examines whether false identifications can be minimized through scientifically based techniques incorporated into a widely used, science-based interview protocol, called the Cognitive Interview. The research goals are to examine: (a) effects of the Cognitive Interview with mental and context reinstatement on eyewitness identification in adults who have documented histories of childhood trauma; (b) effects of prior interviews and lineups in childhood versus no initial interviews or lineups on adults' long-term recognition memory; and (c) individual-difference predictors of photo identification accuracy after a 20 year delay. The research benefits from a prospective-longitudinal study of a large sample of child victims. Researchers will collect a second wave of data (Time 2) on these participants assessed earlier as children (Time 1). Participants' abilities to correctly identify Time 1 individuals will be assessed at Time 2 along with the participants' confidence of the identifications. Individual differences measured at Time 1 and 2 will be analyzed to determine predictors of accuracy. This innovative project provides much needed longitudinal information on eyewitness memory in adults with histories of childhood trauma.

It is vital for society to protect children from abuse. However, child abuse victims are emotionally attached to their parents, and thus these young victims will sometimes lie to conceal parental transgressions, even serious transgressions such as child abuse. Abused children may be afraid of losing their parent and entering foster care, and therefore lie to protect their parents, despite the falsehood increasing the chance of the children staying in an abusive home. It is important, therefore, to identify parenting variables and parent-child relationship factors that predict whether or not children will lie to conceal a parental transgression. This study will help guide theory regarding social predictors of children's lying behavior. T his new knowledge will be of use forensically given the likelihood that child victims who create this type of falsehood would remain in detrimental environments and not receive necessary protection.

This research examines whether parenting style, child attachment, and parental attachment relate to children's lying to project their parents. A second goal of the research is to determine whether children's willingness to lie changes when the cost for lying varies. Parent-child dyads, with children ranging from 8- to 12- years of age, will be given well-validated measures of parenting and attachment to complete, and then take part in a semi-scripted transgression scenario. The children will be questioned regarding the transgressions, either with an implied high cost or an implied low cost, and responses will be coded for lying behavior. Regression models will determine whether the social variables and the cost manipulation predict children?s lying.

Over the past decade, the prevalence of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has dramatically risen from 1 in 150 to 1 in 68. Such increases in prevalence foretell greater involvement of these children in the legal system. Yet science-based interview protocols for obtaining accurate eyewitness reports, available for typically developing children, do not exist for children with ASD. This study examines the effectiveness of two current child forensic interview protocols at eliciting accurate and complete eyewitness statements from (verbal) youth with and without ASD, and determines individual difference predictors of eyewitness memory performance.

Children, 9- to 18-years-old, with and without ASD, will participate in a documented event and will later be questioned with one of two forensic interview protocols. Analyses will examine components of protocols that aid or impede accurate reports. This study addresses debates about disability, competence, and law. Moreover, it will expand theoretical understanding of ASD (e.g., self-development theory) for scientists and provide needed empirical information for legal professionals and fact finders to facilitate reaching the truth.

Title: Assessing the Role of Familiarity in Eyewitness Memory and Suggestibility

Abstract:

In legal cases involving child victims of abuse or maltreatment, the person under suspicion often is someone with whom the child is familiar. Yet, most scientific studies on child eyewitness memory examine accuracy and suggestibility concerning briefly-seen strangers. There are important theoretical reasons to indicate that familiarity and relationship factors affect young children's memory and suggestibility. This project will investigate children's abilities to recount accurately their experiences and their willingness to reveal transgressions.

This project will examine the effects of first-hand person knowledge and socioemotional influences on young children's eye witness reports. Employing an experimental approach, the first study concerns children's memory and suggestibility for an event involving a familiar person versus a stranger. The second study will investigate individual predictors of children's eyewitness memory for a moderately stressful event experienced with their father. For both experiments, assessments of intelligence, mental health, family conflict, and personality will be included to pinpoint significant relations. This research will provide new theoretically driven scientific knowledge about children's eyewitness memory, which in turn will inform the legal system how best to balance protecting children from victimization and protecting adults from false accusations.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Political trust is shaped by many factors over time, including the COVID-19 pandemic. This project will examine trust in governmental authorities and adherence to COVID-19 directives among low-income adults with childhood maltreatment histories. The project will study how various factors influence political trust and how that relates to observance of governmental instructions during the pandemic, particularly among adults with a history of child maltreatment.

Engaging in theories of legal attitudes, behavior, and socialization, this project will study political trust in adults who as children were removed from home in child protection actions. This longitudinal study will employ survey techniques to ascertain how this adult population adheres to government-issued directives during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project also will examine how these adults socialize their children with respect to following government mandates meant to control the pandemic. This project will provide the public with insight on both practical and theoretical levels, as it will be important for characterizing political trust and legal socialization that may affect the spread of disease during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.