Annika Melinder

Child witness research and forensic interviews of young children: A review

In this article, we provide an introduction to child eyewitness memory issues that are frequently discussed and debated, both within the research and practice communities. We review several of the central areas of research on child eyewitness memory and some of the most promising protocols aimed at standardizing and improving child forensic interviews. We focus primarily on memory in young children, because they pose particular challenges. Research on the use of props and external cues to prompt young children’s memory is discussed. We also review research on professionals’ knowledge and attitudes about children as witnesses. It is concluded that we must guard against overly negative or overly optimistic views of children’s abilities.

The development of joint visual attention: A longitudinal study of gaze following during interactions with mothers and strangers

Two- to 8-month-old infants interacted with their mother or a stranger in a prospective longitudinal gaze following study. Gaze following, as assessed by eye tracking, emerged between 2 and 4 months and stabilized between 6 and 8 months of age. Overall, infants followed the gaze of a stranger more than they followed the gaze of their mothers, demonstrating a stranger preference that emerged between 4 and 6 months of age. These findings do not support the notion that infants acquire gaze following through reinforcement learning. Instead, the findings are discussed with respect to the social cognitive framework, suggesting that young infants are driven by social cognitive motives in their interactions with others.

Developmental Differences in the Effects of Repeated Interviews and Interviewer Bias on Young Children's Event Memory and False Reports

The present study investigated developmental differences in the effects of repeated interviews and interviewer bias on childrens memory and suggestibility. Three- and 5-year-olds were singly or repeatedly interviewed about a play event by a highly biased or control interviewer. Children interviewed once by the biased interviewer after a long delay made the most errors. Children interviewed repeatedly, regardless of interviewer bias, were more accurate and less likely to falsely claim that they played with a man. In free recall, among children questioned once after a long delay by the biased interviewer, 5-year-olds were more likely than were 3-year-olds to claim falsely that they played with a man. However, in response to direct questions, 3-year-olds were more easily manipulated into implying that they played with him. Findings suggest that interviewer bias is particularly problematic when childrens memory has weakened. In contrast, repeated interviews that occur a short time after a to-be-remembered event do not necessarily increase childrens errors, even when interviews include misleading questions and interviewer bias. Implications for developmental differences in memory and suggestibility are discussed.

Prenatal exposure to methadone and buprenorphine: A review of the potential effects on cognitive development

The amount of opioid users receiving opioid maintenance therapy has increased significantly over the last few years. As a result, an increasing number of children are prenatally exposed to long-lasting opioids such as methadone and buprenorphine. This article reviews the literature on the cognitive development of children born to mothers in opioid maintenance therapy. Topics discussed are the effects of prenatal exposure on prematurity, somatic growth, brain volume, myelination, and the endocrine and neurotransmitter system. Social-environmental factors, including parental functioning, as well as genetic factors are also described. Areas requiring further research are identified.

What people believe about memory.

Two representative samples of adult Norwegians (n=2000) were asked a set of general and specific questions regarding their beliefs and opinions about human memory. The results indicate that on many questions, such as time of the earliest memories, inhibiting effects of collaboration, and memory for dramatic versus ordinary events, the views of the general public concurred with current research findings, and people in general had realistic views about their own memory performance. On other questions, such as the reliability of olfactory as compared with visual and auditory memory, the memory of small children in comparison with that of adults, the likelihood of repression of adult traumatic memories, and on more general questions such as the possibility of training memory and the capacity limitations of long-term memory, a large proportion of the participants expressed views that are less supported by scientific evidence. Implications of these findings are briefly discussed.

Executive functions are impaired in adolescents engaging in non-suicidal self-injury

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate three main aspects of executive functions (EFs), i.e. shifting, updating and inhibition, in adolescents engaging in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) as compared with healthy controls. METHOD EFs were assessed using the Intra/Extradimensional Set Shift, the Spatial Working Memory (SWM) Test and the Stop Signal Test (SST) from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB), in a high-severity NSSI group (n=33), a low-severity NSSI group (n=29) and a healthy control group (n=35). Diagnostic characteristics were examined using the Kiddie-Sads-Present and Lifetime Version. RESULTS There were group differences on the SWM Test. A trend towards an interaction effect of sex revealed that males in the high-severity NSSI group made significantly more errors than males and females in the control group. Both males and females in the high-severity NSSI group made poor use of an efficient strategy in completing the test. The low-severity NSSI group performed poorly on the SST, making more errors than the control group and showing an impaired ability to inhibit initiated responses, as compared with the high-severity NSSI group. There were group differences in frequencies of current and previous major depressive disorder. However, no effects of these diagnoses were found on any of the EF tests. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that NSSI subgroups have distinct deficits in EFs. The high-severity NSSI group has working memory deficits, while the low-severity NSSI group has impaired inhibitory control. This supports the emotion regulation hypothesis.

Beliefs about child witnesses: A survey of professionals

This research addressed how professionals involved with the legal system evaluate children, primarily between 4 and 8 years old, as witnesses. In particular, we focused on professionals’ beliefs and opinions regarding childrens memory, suggestibility, and behaviors as they relate to witness credibility. In addition, we surveyed professionals’ evaluations of investigative methods related to reliability. Four hundred and seventy-eight professionals working with children in the Norwegian legal system (i.e. judges, police detectives, psychologists, child psychiatrists, prosecutors, and defense attorneys) completed a questionnaire about child witness issues. Results indicated that psychiatrists as well as police officers expressed greater belief in childrens capacities than did other groups, whereas defense attorneys and psychologists were more skeptical regarding childrens general credibility. Psychiatrists and psychologists both, however, tended to favor, more than did legal professionals, the use of clinical techniques with children in abuse investigations. Implications are discussed in relation to professionals’ attitudes toward children as witnesses.

The development and neural basis of pointing comprehension

The neurological correlates of pointing comprehension in adults and 8-month-old infants are explored. Both age groups demonstrate differential activation to congruent and incongruent pointing gestures over posterior temporal areas. The functional similarity of the adult N200 and the infant P400 component suggests that they might have a common source.

Theory and practice in interviewing young children: A study of Norwegian police interviews 1985–2002

Abstract Has the increased public and professional awareness of the challenges of interviewing children in forensic contexts led to changes and improvements in police interviewing practices? A representative sample (n=91) of police interviews conducted during the period of 1985–2002 from a large Norwegian police district was analysed. The results indicated that interviewer strategies have improved; there was a decrease in the use of suggestive, yes/no and option-posing questions and this decrease was accompanied by a comparable increase in the use of cued recall questions. The frequency of open-ended invitations was low and did not change much over time. Factors that might have led to the observed changes are briefly discussed.

Look Who's Talking: Pre-Verbal Infants' Perception of Face-to-Face and Back-to-Back Social Interactions.

Four-, 6-, and 11-month old infants were presented with movies in which two adult actors conversed about everyday events, either by facing each other or looking in opposite directions. Infants from 6 months of age made more gaze shifts between the actors, in accordance with the flow of conversation, when the actors were facing each other. A second experiment demonstrated that gaze following alone did not cause this difference. Instead the results are consistent with a social cognitive interpretation, suggesting that infants perceive the difference between face-to-face and back-to-back conversations and that they prefer to attend to a typical pattern of social interaction from 6 months of age.