Events consist of diverse elements, each processed in specialized neocortical networks, with temporal lobe memory systems binding these elements to form coherent event memories. We provide a novel theoretical analysis of an unexplored consequence of the independence of memory systems for elements and their bindings, 1 that raises the paradoxical…

The effects of embedding standard Deese/Roediger-McDermott (DRM) lists into stories whose context biased interpretation either toward or away from the overall themes of the DRM lists on both true and false recognition were investigated with 7- and 11-year-olds. These biased story contexts were compared with the same children's susceptibility to…

The effect of test-induced priming on false recognition was investigated in children aged 5, 7, 9, and 11 years using lists of semantic associates, category exemplars, and phonological associates. In line with effects previously observed in adults, nine- and eleven-year-olds showed increased levels of false recognition when critical lures were…

In two experiments, we investigated the robustness and automaticity of adults' and children's generation of false memories by using a levels-of-processing paradigm (Experiment 1) and a divided attention paradigm (Experiment 2). The first experiment revealed that when information was encoded at a shallow level, true recognition rates decreased for…

Three experiments investigated the effects of test-induced priming (TIP) on false recognition in the Deese/Roediger-McDermott procedure (Deese, 1959; Roediger & McDermott, 1995). In Experiment 1, TIP significantly increased false recognition for participants who made old/new decisions at test but not for participants who made remember/know…

This investigation examined basic memory processes, cortisol, and dissociation in maltreated children. School-aged children (age range = 6-13), 143 maltreated and 174 nonmaltreated, were administered the California Verbal Learning Test-Children (D. C. Delis, J. H. Kramer, E. Kaplan, & B. A. Ober, 1994) in a week-long camp setting, daily…

In this commentary, assumptions about the nature and development of children's false memories as described in a recent article by C. J. Brainerd, V. F. Reyna, and S. J. Ceci (2008) are reviewed. Specifically, questions are raised about what drives the development of false memories in fuzzy-trace theory (FTT). Recent studies that challenge a core…

Differences in basic memory processes between maltreated and nonmaltreated children were examined in an experiment in which middle-socioeconomic-status (SES; N=60), low-SES maltreated (N=48), and low-SES nonmaltreated (N=51) children (ages 57, 89, and 10-12 years) studied 12 Deese-Roediger-McDermott lists. Using recall and recognition measures,…

Notes that fuzzy-trace theory provides a link between indices of memory performance and the theoretical processes that underlie that performance. Author argues false memories can arise because of processes that normally affect forgetting. Maintains that, to the extent that memories lose their distinctive properties, such memories may become…

Examined effect of familiarization on 3.5-month-olds' retention of visual stimuli with varying delay times. Found support for retention models in which direction of attentional preferences (novel, familiar, or null) depends on memory accessibility. Short lookers showed better retention over time than long lookers, indicating that much of the…

Two experiments used paired-comparisons to investigate 3-month olds' recognition of dynamic visual events after various retention intervals. Results indicated a changing pattern of attentional preferences over time consistent with models of infant recognition memory in which novelty, familiarity, and null preferences are considered conjointly and…

Considers the relative lack of research attention to retention in developmental psychology and recent findings on age differences in retention. Highlights unresolved issues and how Bauer and colleagues' work may help set the research agenda and contribute to a shift in how early childhood retention is studied. Discusses memory strength,…