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Binding An Event To Its Source At Encoding Improves Children's Source Monitoring, Kim Roberts, Angela Evans, Sara Duncanson

Psychology Faculty Publications

Children learn information from a variety of sources and often remember the content but forget the source. While the majority of research has focused on retrieval mechanisms for such difficulties, the present investigation examines whether the way in which sources are encoded influences future source monitoring. In Study 1, 86 children aged 3 to 8 years participated in two photography sessions on different days. Children were randomly assigned to either the Difference condition (they were asked to pay attention to differences between the two events), the Memory control condition (asked to pay attention with no reference to differences), or the …

The Role Of Executive Function In Children's Source Monitoring With Varying Retrieval Strategies, Kim P. Roberts, Becky Earhart

Psychology Faculty Publications

Previous research on the relationship between executive function and source monitoring in young children has been inconclusive, with studies finding conflicting results about whether working memory and inhibitory control are related to source-monitoring ability. In this study, the role of working memory and inhibitory control in recognition memory and source monitoring with two different retrieval strategies were examined. Children (N = 263) aged 4–8 participated in science activities with two sources. They were later given a recognition and source-monitoring test, and completed measures of working memory and inhibitory control. During the source-monitoring test, half of the participants were asked …

Retrieval Of Episodic Versus Generic Information: Does The Order Of Recall Affect The Amount And Accuracy Of Details Reported By Children About Repeated Events?, Sonja P. Brubacher, Kim P. Roberts, Martine B. Powell

Psychology Faculty Publications

Children (N = 157) 4- to 8-years old participated 1 (single) or 4 times (repeated) in an interactive event. Across each condition, half were questioned a week later about the only or a specific occurrence of the event (Depth-first), and then about what usually happens. Half were prompted in the reverse order (Breadth-first). Children with repeated experience who first were asked about what usually happens reported more event-related information overall than those asked about an occurrence first. All children used episodic language when describing an occurrence; however children with repeated-event experience used episodic language less …

The Consistency Of False Suggestions Moderates Children’S Reports Of A Single Instance Of A Repeated Event: Predicting Increases And Decreases In Suggestibility, Kim Roberts, Martine B. Powell

Psychology Faculty Publications

Six- to 7-year-olds (N = 130) participated in classroom activities four times. The children were interviewed about the final occurrence (target event) either a week or a month later, during which half of the event items were inaccurately described. Half of these suggestions were consistent with the theme of the detail across the occurrences (e.g., always sat on a kind of floor mat) or were inconsistent (e.g., sat on a chair). When memory for the target event was tested a day later, children falsely recognized fewer inconsistent than consistent suggestions, especially compared to a control group of children who …

Describing Individual Incidents Of Sexual Abuse: A Review Of Research On The Effects Of Multiple Sources Of Information On Children’S Reports, Kim P. Roberts, Martine B. Powell

Psychology Faculty Publications

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. …