Reminiscence and hypermnesia in children’s eyewitness memory

Abstract

Three experiments examined reminiscence and hypermnesia in 5- and 6-year-olds' memory for an event across repeated interviews that occurred either immediately afterward (Experiment 1) or after a 6-month delay (Experiments 2 and 3). Reminiscence (recall of new information) was reliably obtained in all of the experiments, although the numbers of new items recalled were fewer after a delay than when the interviews occurred immediately afterward. Hypermnesia (increasing total recall over repeated recall attempts) was obtained only in Experiment 1 when interviews occurred immediately and 24 h after the event.

Investigative Interviews with Victims of Child Sexual Abuse: The Relationship between Question Type and Investigation Relevant Information

“…La Rooy, et al, 2005;Lamb, et al, 2007;Myklebust, 2009;Pipe, et al, 2004). The implications of this research has been widely utilised in attempts to improve the interviewing of children by providing a more structured interview approach, thereby enabling children every opportunity to provide information about the alleged offence.…”

Dynamics of Repeated Interviews with Children

“…However, developmental issues, such as children being more easily tired or not being able to understand more complicated instructions, can make these less practical. A repeat interview, using standard interviewing techniques, however, has been found to be effective in obtaining further information from children; children regularly reveal further information about an event in a second interview that they did not reveal in their first interview, this aspect of memory being called reminiscence, which has been found to occur in both experimental (Fivush, McDermott Sales, Goldberg, Bahrick, & Parker, 2004;La Rooy, Pipe, & Murray, 2005; and field studies (Hershkowitz & Terner, 2007;Cederborg, La Rooy, & Lamb, 2008;Katz & Hershkowitz, 2013).…”

A Decade Later: Adolescents' Memory for Medical Emergencies

“…Successful reminders can take various forms, and considerable research shows that memory conversations with parents or other adults remind and reinforce event memories (Fivush, 2011;Larkina & Bauer, 2012). Importantly, repeated interviews can also provide effective reinstatement because they foster systematic and detailed recall of a target event (La Rooy, Pipe, & Murray, 2005).…”