Theoretical and forensic implications of developmental studies of the DRM illusion.
In the study of false memory, developmental research on the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) illusion has played a pivotal role in theory evaluation and forensic application. The extensive developmental DRM literature (55 experiments published in English-language journals) provided the first clear evidence that false memories can increase dramatically from early childhood onward, whereas traditional ideas about cognitive development predict steady declines. Similar increases have recently been reported in false memory for complex, realistic life events, using forensically oriented paradigms. Age improvements in the ability to connect meaning across words have been found to be necessary and sufficient for developmental increases in the DRM illusion. When the data of developmental DRM studies are combined with parallel findings from forensically oriented paradigms, the result is an existence proof that a principle used by the law to evaluate children's evidence is mistaken. According to that principle, children's versions of events are always more likely to be infected with false memories than those of adults, and hence, juries should give more weight to adults' versions of events.
Department of Human Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA. cb299@cornell.edu
C J
CJ
Brainerd
V F
VF
Reyna
E
E
Zember
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003416:Criminal Law; D006801:Humans; D007088:Illusions; D007206:Individuality; D007360:Intelligence; D011939:Mental Recall; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011582:Psychological Theory; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012094:Repression, Psychology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012106:Research; D012660:Semantics; D014706:Verbal Learning; D014936:Word Association Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
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