False Memories In Children
A false memory is considered a recollection of an event that did not actually occur. A child's brain is still learning to encode long-term memories. When children are young, the hippocampus–a part of the brain crucial to memory–is still undergoing neurogenesis, where new neurons are constantly being produced.
False Memory Scenario
One afternoon, 4-year old Cheryl came home sobbing and reported that Mr. Johnson, a neighbor and long-time friend, had taken down her pants and touched her “private parts.” Her mother was shocked. She had always believed Mr. Johnson to be an honest, decent man, which made her wonder if Cheryl’s imagination had simply run wild. Yet Mr. Johnson had sometimes seemed a bit peculiar, so her daughter’s claim did have a ring of truth.
Do you think little Cheryl is telling the truth? How could you prove her innocence?
There is no evidence to support the claim besides the little girl's own words. The mother could ask around for witnesses if she needs reinforcement., but not ask the neighbors yes or no questions. The mother should ask the neighbors if they saw anything peculiar happen around the neighborhood due to the fact that her daughter came home crying. If she was to state what her daughter had said to her to the neighbors as well, then there is a chance that false memories might be implanted into the neighbor's memories as well. This topic is a very difficult one that the mother will have to take caution with while saying her words.
What exactly should Cheryl’s mother do about this difficult situation?
She needs to have her daughter write everything down on a piece of paper or tell her mother directly for her to write down in order to explain the information when it is fresh. This way, more false memories will be prevented from being created inside of the child's mind.
Cheryl then needs to ask around the neighborhood for witnesses, but not explain what her daughter had said. She just needs to ask her neighbors if they could describe anything peculiar that might have happened within the past few hours in order to prevent false memories becoming formed in their minds as well.
When confronting Cheryl in regards to questions, what should or should not be done?
She needs to not ask questions that only can be answered by saying yes or no. Only ask generic questions during the interview in order to prevent more false memories from being created. An example would be, "Where were you?", "What happened?", "Why are you upset?". These types of questions will help create more than a one word response and will not lead the child to believing new information.
One afternoon, 4-year old Cheryl came home sobbing and reported that Mr. Johnson, a neighbor and long-time friend, had taken down her pants and touched her “private parts.” Her mother was shocked. She had always believed Mr. Johnson to be an honest, decent man, which made her wonder if Cheryl’s imagination had simply run wild. Yet Mr. Johnson had sometimes seemed a bit peculiar, so her daughter’s claim did have a ring of truth.
Do you think little Cheryl is telling the truth? How could you prove her innocence?
There is no evidence to support the claim besides the little girl's own words. The mother could ask around for witnesses if she needs reinforcement., but not ask the neighbors yes or no questions. The mother should ask the neighbors if they saw anything peculiar happen around the neighborhood due to the fact that her daughter came home crying. If she was to state what her daughter had said to her to the neighbors as well, then there is a chance that false memories might be implanted into the neighbor's memories as well. This topic is a very difficult one that the mother will have to take caution with while saying her words.
What exactly should Cheryl’s mother do about this difficult situation?
She needs to have her daughter write everything down on a piece of paper or tell her mother directly for her to write down in order to explain the information when it is fresh. This way, more false memories will be prevented from being created inside of the child's mind.
Cheryl then needs to ask around the neighborhood for witnesses, but not explain what her daughter had said. She just needs to ask her neighbors if they could describe anything peculiar that might have happened within the past few hours in order to prevent false memories becoming formed in their minds as well.
When confronting Cheryl in regards to questions, what should or should not be done?
She needs to not ask questions that only can be answered by saying yes or no. Only ask generic questions during the interview in order to prevent more false memories from being created. An example would be, "Where were you?", "What happened?", "Why are you upset?". These types of questions will help create more than a one word response and will not lead the child to believing new information.