The role of attachment and cognitive inhibition in children's memory and suggestibility for a stressful event.

Full Abstract

There has been increasing interest in children's abilities to report memories of and resist misleading suggestions about distressing events. Individual differences among children and their parents may provide important insight into principles that govern children's eyewitness memory and suggestibility for such experiences. In the present study, 51 children between the ages of 3 and 7 years were interviewed about an inoculation after a delay of approximately 2 weeks. Results indicated that parents' attachment Avoidance was associated with children's distress during the inoculation. Parental attachment Anxiety and the interaction between parental Avoidance and children's stress predicted children's memory for the inoculation. Cognitive inhibition was also a significant predictor of children's memory errors and suggestibility. Theoretical implications concerning effects of stress and individual differences on children's eyewitness memory and suggestibility are discussed.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Weede Alexander, Kristen (K); Goodman, Gail S (GS); Schaaf, Jennifer M (JM); Edelstein, Robin S (RS); Quas, Jodi A (JA); Shaver, Phillip R (PR);

Affiliation: Human Development, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616-8686, USA. kalexander@csus.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of experimental child psychology (J Exp Child Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Dec; vol 83 (issue 4) : pp 262-90

Dates: Created 2002/12/09; Completed 2003/04/04; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 12470961, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

This article has not been indexed for related articles as yet, however you can still use the live related article search links below.

See 100+ related articles.