RUI Collaborative Research: The Development of Memory for Temporal Information

University Of Southern California, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

Collaborative Research: The Development of Memory for Temporal Information This project is designed to elucidate the development of children's memory for the times of past events. It is an attempt to learn about the abilities of children of different ages and the processes involved in this important human ability. As part of a broader program of research by scholars who study the developmental psychology of time, this work will help us better understand the growth of temporal knowledge. The largest of the studies will provide normative information about the abilities of children ranging in age from 4 to 14 years to recall the times of events from the last three years. The interview will test memory for the times, frequencies, and details of the events and measure children's general knowledge of time patterns and their ability to use inference and other reconstructive processes. Another study will entail examining trial transcripts to determine the types of questions about time that attorneys ask children of different ages and the relation between question form and accuracy. Additional studies will be conducted to provide further information about the development of the processes that underlie mature time-memory abilities. In one study children will recall experimental events from 6 months earlier and abilities related to reconstruction will be examined in detail. For example, the interview will provide measures of memory for temporally relevant details of the event and its contiguity to other events, general knowledge of time, and the ability to select and evaluate information that could logically constrain the time. Another study will focus on the development of children's explicit knowledge of how to remember past times, by asking children about the processes, properties, and limitations of remembering the times of past events. Still another experiment will probe the development of children's memory for information about the order of past events by having them judge the order of experimental and school events from many months in the past. In the final component of the project, methods will be developed and empirically tested for improving the accuracy of children's testimony about the times of remembered events. This will lead to the development of recommendations for forensic interviews of children about the times of events. Overall, the project is expected to improve psychologists', educators', and legal professionals' understanding of an important aspect of memory development: how children of different ages remember the times of past events. The work will also provide information that will be useful to legal professionals and legislators who must make decisions about the capacity of children of different ages to testify about the times of events. Further, the project will lead to the development of techniques for improving forensic interviews of children.