Steve Ceci Department of Human Development

1. Five Factors That Can Damage Children’s Memory Steve Ceci Department of Human Development

2. Are children’s statements accurate?

3. 2 Ways for Statements to be Inaccurate • lies • false memory/false belief

4. What is memory?

5. Memory is a record of: • pattern-recognition • interpretive analyses • source information What How

6. Source Memory Memory for the root of information acquisition A record is made of the context of remembering

7. Jargon #1 Source Misattributions

8. Source Misattributions - what are they? • Even adults are vulnerable (20%-35%) • Preschoolers are disproportionately vulnerable (50-70%)

9. • “One day in the summer of 1901, I remarked to a friend with whom I used to have a lively exchange of scientific ideas: ‘These problems of the neuroses are only to be solved if we base ourselves on the assumption of the original bisexuality of the individual.’ To which he replied: ‘That’s what I told you two years ago at Breslau when we went for that evening walk. But you wouldn’t hear of it then’. It is painful to be requested in this way to surrender one’s originality.” (Freud, 1901, p. 141)

10. Five Factors That Can Damage Memory Suggestive questions (Ceci, et al, 1987) Stereotypes (Leichtman & Ceci, 1995) Confirmatory bias (Ceci, et al, 1997) Visually guided imagery (Ceci, et al, 1994) High levels of stress (Peters, 1991)

11. Recall Experiment Participants are read a list of words and later asked if a particular word was among those listed

12. Credibility Experiment Participants view video footage of interviews with children and are asked to rate the credibility of the children’s responses

13. 2,300 Professional Raters’ Confidence

14. 6 0 . 0 0 % 5 0 . 0 0 % 4 0 . 0 0 % " S a m r i p p e d i t " 3 0 . 0 0 % " I s a w h i m " " H e r e a l l y d i d " 2 0 . 0 0 % 1 0 . 0 0 % 0 . 0 0 % 3 3 - - 4 4 y y r r o o l l d d 5 5 - - 6 6 y y r r o o l l d d NO SUGGESTION; NO STEREOTYPELeichtman & Ceci (1995) Adapted From: Leichtman, M. & Ceci, S. J. (1995). ) The Effects of Stereotypes and Suggestions on Preschoolers’ Reports, Developmental Psychology, 31, 568-578.

15. NO SUGGESTIONS; + STEREOTYPE Leichtman & Ceci (1995)

16. + SUGGESTIONS; NO STEREOTYPE Leichtman & Ceci (1995)

17. +SUGGESTION +STEREOTYPE Leichtman & Ceci (1995)

18. +STEREOTYPE +SUGGESTION(2 suggestive sessions over 1 month)

19. +STEREOTYPE + SUGGESTION(6 suggestive sessions over 3 months)

20. Four causes of source misattributions

21. Suggestive questions (Ceci, et al, 1987) • Stereotypes (Leichtman & Ceci, 1995) • Confirmatory bias (Ceci, et al, 1997) • Visually guided imagery (Ceci, et al, 1994)

22. Jargon #2 Confirmatory Bias Rice (1929)

23. “Social workers tended to accept information unquestioningly when it fitted their current opinion…(and) showed much more skepticism when it conflicted with their views.” (Munro’s, 1996 analysis of 45 inquiries into deaths of children in the U.K.) -------------- In assessing the trustworthiness of a child’s statements, the Michaels Court recognized that “Among the factors that can undermine neutrality and create undue suggestiveness is …the pursuit by an interviewer of a preconceived notion of what has happened to the child” at 309, 642 A.2d 1372

24. Experimental Demonstration of a Confirmatory Bias • Simon Says Experiment

25. 1 MONTH INTERVIEW White, T.L., Leichtman, M.D. and Ceci, S.J. (1997). The good, the bad, and the ugly: Accuracy, inaccuracy, and elaboration in preschoolers’ reports about a past event. Applied Cognitive Psychology 11, S37-S54.

26. 3-MONTH INTERVIEW

27. Inducing Visualization

28. 3-4-year-olds 5-6-year-olds Percent of False Assenting Percent of False Assenting SESSIONS SESSIONS Adapted From: Ceci, S. J., Loftus, E. F., Leichtman, M. D., & Bruck, M. (1994). International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis.

29. “If the child says ‘no’, indicating that sexual touching has not been experienced, then ask the child to put on the drawing a face that shows how he or she would feel if it happened.” (Hewitt, S., 1999. Assessing Allegations of Sexual Abuse in Preschool Children, Sage, p. 233).

30. Multiplicative Effect of Using Multiple Suggestive Techniques

31. Can These Same Techniques Be Used to Suggest Painful Events? Taking Advantage of Naturally-Occurring Medical Procedures

32. How Much Did You Cry? Bruck, Ceci, Francoeur, & Barr (1995)

33. How Much Did It Hurt? Bruck, Ceci, Francoeur, & Barr (1995)

34. % Who Incorrectly Recalled R.A. Bruck, Ceci, Francoeur, & Barr (1995)

35. How About Genital Touching?

36. Multiple Independent Studies Showing Suggestion for Genital Touching • VCUG Studies (Merritt, Ornstein et al, 1996) • “Mr. Science put something yucky in my mouth” (Poole & Lindsay, 2000) • Babysitter touching (Rawls, 1996) • Stranger took photos in bath (Goodman et al, 1989) • Parent kissed child while naked in tub (Ceci et al., 1993) • Pediatrician touching (Bruck, et al, 1995)

37. GENITAL EXAMINATION (Bruck, Ceci, Francouer & Renick, 1995) ERRORS OF OMISSION • “Did the doctor touch you here?” 55% • “Show me on the doll” 60% ERRORS OF COMMISSION • “Did the doctor touch you here? 65% • “Show me on the doll” 55%

38. RECAP • Stereotypes • Repeated Leading Questions • Confirmatory Bias • Visually-Guided Imagery • CAVEATS: • Control Group Impressive • Techniques work with abuse-related events • No “Pinocchio Test” • Multiplicative effect of combined suggestions

39. The End