Five years later: children's memory for medical emergencies

Abstract

Children who had been 2±13 years of age at the time of a medical emergency (an injury serious enough to require hospital ER treatment) were re-interviewed about their injury and treatment ®ve years after injury, and three years after a previous interview. The children showed excellent recall of the central components of their injury experience, although their recall of hospital treatment was more incomplete. Thus, both the nature of the event being recalled (the injury versus the hospital treatment) and the centrality of information (central versus peripheral) were important. The recall of 2-year-olds, although not as good as that of children just a year older, did not ®t with predictions of infantile amnesia since they recalled a considerable amount about their injury. High stress levels at the time of the target experiences had little effect on the highly memorable injury event, but seemed to facilitate children's recall of central components of the hospital eventÐthe event that they had a harder time remembering. Implications for eyewitness testimony are discussed.

A Meta-Analytic Review of the Effects of High Stress on Eyewitness Memory.

“…Second, measures of memory had to be from an initial assessment, a measure of memory unsullied by previous attempts at identifi cation or recall. Again, some studies of children's memory for medical procedures have focused on long-term recall after two or more previous assessments of recall accuracy (e.g., Burgwyn-Bailes, Baker-Ward, Gordon, & Ornstein, 2001;Peterson & Whalen, 2001). Third, measures of recall accuracy that were included were only of straightforward efforts at either free recall or interrogative recall (cued recall).…”

The influence of an early interview on long‐term recall: a comparative analysis

“…Many studies provide evidence that document children's accurate recall of traumatic events over the short-term (Peterson & Bell, 1996;; however, it is queried whether this accuracy can be sustained over time. Because delays in the judicial system are typical, researchers have directed their attention to young children's long-term recollections of personally experienced, stressful events (Burgwyn-Bailes, Baker-Ward, Gordon & Ornstein, 2001;Peterson & Whalen, 2001;Quas et al, 1999).…”

“…More specifically, children's memory is quite accurate even when assessed a year following the traumatic event (Burgwyn-Bailes Influence of an Early Interview 2 et al, Peterson, Moores & White, 2001). Moreover, Peterson and Whalen (2001) reported accurate recall in young children after 5 years had passed.…”

Earliest Memories and Recent Memories of Highly Salient Events—Are They Similar?

“…Memory reports about such events are extensive, highly detailed, and remarkably accurate (Peterson, 2011(Peterson, , 2012. These memories are also well maintained for many years (Peterson & Whalen, 2001). In short, memory reports about such events are as optimal as one can typically get from children.…”