When Children are the Least Vulnerable to False Memories: A True Report or a Case of Autosuggestion?

Brackmann, Nathalie; Otgaar, Henry; Sauerland, Melanie; Jelícic, Marko

doi:10.1111/1556-4029.12926

Cited by 20 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…The lesson from the current experiments is that a child’s age can no longer be used as a predictor of their reliability as an eyewitness. Indeed, in many criminal cases, expert witnesses regularly (falsely) assume that young children are more apt to produce most kinds of memory errors, whether they arise spontaneously or due to suggestion-induced pressures (for a recent case, see Brackmann, Otgaar, Sauerland, & Jelicic, 2015 ). However, there are perhaps other forensic ramifications of our findings.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The malleability of developmental trends in neutral and negative memory illusions.

Otgaar¹,

Howe²,

Brackmann³

et al. 2016

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

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Among many legal professionals and memory researchers there exists the assumption that susceptibility to false memory decreases with age. In 4 misinformation experiments, we show that under conditions that focus on the meaning of experiences, children are not always the most susceptible to suggestion-induced false memories. We begin by presenting a short overview of previous developmental false memory studies, the majority of which have found that the susceptibility to misinformation decreases with age. In Experiment 1, 6/7-year-olds, 11/12-year-olds, and adults received a video and were confronted with misinformation about related but nonpresented details. Older children and adults had higher misinformation acceptance rates than younger children. In Experiment 2, we replicated this finding adding a younger child group (4/6-year-olds). In Experiments 3 and 4, we used new material and again found that susceptibility to misinformation increased with age. Together, these experiments show that children’s memory accuracy is not necessarily inferior to that of adults.’

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The malleability of developmental trends in neutral and negative memory illusions.

Otgaar¹,

Howe²,

Brackmann³

et al. 2016

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

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“…This latter type of false memory has been referred to as spontaneous false memories . Both types of false memories can arise in legal cases and in clinical settings ( Brackmann, Otgaar, Sauerland, & Jelicic, 2016 ; Howe et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: False Memorymentioning

confidence: 99%

What Drives False Memories in Psychopathology? A Case for Associative Activation

Otgaar

Muris

Howe

2017

Clinical Psychological Science

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In clinical and court settings, it is imperative to know whether posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression may make people susceptible to false memories. We conducted a review of the literature on false memory effects in participants with PTSD, a history of trauma, or depression. When emotional associative material was presented to these groups, their levels of false memory were raised relative to those in relevant comparison groups. This difference did not consistently emerge when neutral or nonassociative material was presented. Our conclusion is supported by a quantitative comparison of effect sizes between studies using emotional associative or neutral, nonassociative material. Our review suggests that individuals with PTSD, a history of trauma, or depression are at risk for producing false memories when they are exposed to information that is related to their knowledge base.

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“…Because all child participants in Experiment 2 had previously participated in Experiment 1, apparently some children learned from their experience in that experiment that not all test slides had been shown during study. Children's rejection of new slides in Experiment 2 suggests that their willingness to recognize new slides in Experiment 1 is better explained by their desire to be agreeable with the experimenter (Brackmann et al, 2016) than a false memory (Otgaar et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…In Experiment 1, children and adults recognized missing slides more often than new slides, supporting our hypothesis. The significant main effect of age was driven primarily by children being likelier to respond "yes" to new slides, which could either indicate children having more false memories than adults (Otgaar et al, 2016), or children trying to be agreeable to the experimenter (Brackmann et al, 2016). Unfortunately, it is difficult to distinguish between these possibilities, but the contrast between the two experiments' results might provide some insight, as described below.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…*Faculty mentor W hen there is one witness to a crime, the testimony from that individual could be the crucial piece of evidence that brings the perpetrator to justice (Brackmann, Otgaar, Sauerland, & Jelicic, 2016;Roberts & Powell, 2001). Of course, the testimony is only as reliable as the witness's memory, which is notoriously susceptible to the creation of false memories (Gleaves, Smith, Butler, & Spiegel, 2004).…”

Section: Spring 2017 Psi Chi Journal Of Psychological Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

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"The Measure Ye Mete": Does Prosocial Priming Lead to Harsher Moral Judgment?

Moon¹,

Wright²,

Broadbent³

et al. 2017

PsiChiJournal

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Mem ber ship is open to undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and alumni mak ing the study of psy chol ogy one of their major interests and who meet Psi Chi's min i mum qual i fi ca tions. Psi Chi is a member of the As so cia tion of Col lege Honor So ci et ies (ACHS), and is an affiliate of the Ameri can Psy cho logi cal As so cia tion (APA) and the Association for Psy cho log i cal Science (APS). Psi Chi's sister honor society is Psi Beta, the na tion al honor society in psychology for com mu nity and junior colleges. Psi Chi functions as a federation of chap ters located at over 1,100 senior col leg es and universities around the world. The Psi Chi Central Office is lo cat ed in Chatta nooga, Ten nessee. A Board of Directors, com posed of psy chol o gy faculty who are Psi Chi members and who are elect ed by the chapters, guides the affairs of the Or ga ni za tion and sets pol i cy with the ap prov al of the chap ters. Psi Chi membership provides two major opportunities. The first of these is ac a dem ic rec og ni tion to all in duc tees by the mere fact of mem ber ship. The sec ond is the opportunity of each of the Society's local chapters to nourish and stim u late the pro fes sion al growth of all members through fellowship and activities de signed to augment and en hance the reg u lar cur ric u lum. In addition, the Or ga ni za tion provides programs to help achieve these goals including con ven tions, research awards and grants competitions, and publication opportunities.

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When Children are the Least Vulnerable to False Memories: A True Report or a Case of Autosuggestion?

Cited by 20 publications

References 39 publications

The malleability of developmental trends in neutral and negative memory illusions.

The malleability of developmental trends in neutral and negative memory illusions.

What Drives False Memories in Psychopathology? A Case for Associative Activation

"The Measure Ye Mete": Does Prosocial Priming Lead to Harsher Moral Judgment?

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