Two experiments tested and confirmed the hypothesis that events will be suggestively planted in memory to the degree that they are plausible and script-relevant knowledge exists in memory In Experiment 1, 22 Jewish and 29 Catholic high school students were read descriptions of three true events and two false events reported to have occurred when they were 8 years old One false event described a Jewish ritual, and one described a Catholic ritual Results for the false events showed the predicted asymmetry Whereas 7 Catholics but 0 Jews remembered only the Catholic false event, 3 Jews but only 1 Catholic remembered only the Jewish false event Two subjects recalled both events In Experiment 2 20 confederates read descriptions of one true event and two false events to a younger sibling or close relative The more plausible false event described the relative being lost in a mall while shopping the less plausible false event described the relative receiving an enema Three events were falselv remembered, all were the more plausible event We conclude by outlining a framework that specifies the cognitive processes underlying suggestively planting false events in memory
This experiment tested and supported the hypothesis that events will be suggestively planted in children's memory to the degree that the suggested event is plausible and script-relevant knowledge exists in memory. Nineteen 5-to 7-year-old children and 20 9-to 12-year-old children were read descriptions of two true events and two false events, reported to have occurred when they were 4 years old. One false event described the child lost in a mall while shopping (the plausible false event); the other false event described the child receiving a rectal enema (the implausible false event). The majority of the 39 children (54%) did not remember either false event. However, whereas 14 children recalled the plausible but not the implausible false event, only one child recalled the implausible but not the plausible false event; this difference was statistically significant. Three additional children (all in the younger age group) recalled both false events. Although this pattern of results was consistent for both age groups, the differences were significant for the younger children only. A framework is outlined specifying the cognitive processes underlying suggestively planting false events in memory.
Few researchers have investigated the relation of children's sleep problems to their parents' sleep problems. Children with autism have been reported to evidence greater sleep problems than do typically developing children (C. D. Hoffman, D. P. Sweeney, J. E. Gilliam, & M. C. Lopez-Wagner, 2006; P. G. William, L. L. Sears, & A. Allard, 2004). In the present study, parents (N = 106) of children independently diagnosed with autism (4-16 years of age; M= 8.20 years, SD = 2.69 years) reported greater sleep problems for themselves than did parents (N = 168) of typically developing children (4-15 years of age; M = 8.62 years, SD = 3.28 years). Children's sleep problems were related to parents' sleep problems for both groups; in the autism group, children's level of symptomatology was not related to their parents' sleep. The authors suggest areas for further research on the sleep problems of children and their parents, the potential interaction of these problems with children's symptomatic behavior, and the relations of these factors to child, parent, and family functioning.
Mothers of children diagnosed with autism (N = 104) reported higher levels of stress than mothers of typically developing children (N = 342) on 13 of 14 subscales of the Parenting Stress Index. The only scores that did not differ were from the Attachment subscale, which indicates lack of emotional closeness and rather cold patterns of parent-child interaction. Mean Child Domain subscale scores for mothers in the autism group were at the 99th percentile; mean scores on the Attachment subscale were at about the 50th percentile for both groups. Despite substantial stress, mothers of children with autism report close relationships with their children. Results substantiate the need to develop interventions to help these mothers reduce their stress.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.