Antonio L. Manzanero

El papel de la preparación sobre el recuerdo de sucesos imaginados y percibidos

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of preparation on the characteristics of “internal” (imagined) and “external” (real) memories. Following recent research (Alonso-Quecuty, 1992; Suengas & Johnson, 1988) it was hypothesized that: 1) memory descriptions from a real event would be differents in a series of features than memory descriptions from an imagined event; 2) memory descriptions from a real event in the preparation condition would contain more sensorial and contextual details and more internal characteristics (in terms of the Johnson & Raye, 1981, reality monitoring) than subjects in the no-preparation condition; 3) statements of subjects asked to prepare a report of an imagined event should contain more external characteristics than the imagined memories of subjects who do not receive instructions about preparing their statements. The results confirmed partially the hypotheses.

Effects of Presentation Format and Instructions on the Ability of People with Intellectual Disability to Identify Faces.

The aim of this work was to analyze the effect of presentation format and instructions on the ability of people with intellectual disability to identify individuals they did not know and had seen only briefly. With this objective in mind, 2 groups of subjects with mild to moderate intellectual disability were shown a photograph of a person and, after a distracting task, were asked to identify that person in 2 line-ups (target-absent and target-present) with 6 photographs each, where 2 types of instructions (neutral vs specific, between-subject design) and 2 presentation formats (simultaneous vs sequential, within-subject design) for the line-up photographs were used. Each subject completed 4 trials. The results showed that, generally speaking, people with intellectual disability were capable of distinguishing the face of a person previously seen under all these conditions. There was a significantly higher incidence of false alarms, however, when the photographs were presented sequentially and when specific instructions were not given. With specific instructions designed to lessen the social desirability effect and increase motivation for the task, false alarms on the target-absent line-up were reduced. The results were discussed with a view to their applicability in legal and law enforcement contexts.

Prevalence of disabled people involved in Spanish Civil Guard’s police activity

Improving interventions with victims and offenders with disabilities requires analysis of the degree of prevalence of crimes in which these people are involved. For this purpose, data regarding interventions made by the Spanish Civil Guard between 2008 and 2010, in which 2099 people had some kind of disability, have been collected and analyzed, with particular regard to criminal offenses (felonies and/or misdemeanors). In this study, the relationship between the types of disability a person has and other variables like their connection to the incident, their gender, age, the relationship between victim and perpetrator, and the time and place of the events were all taken into consideration. The results show that most of the victims with disabilities served by the Spanish Civil Guard were male. The interventions were mainly aid and rescues. Criminal offenses were only 20% of the events.

Memories for traumatic events: accuracy, types and characteristics

The study of memory for trauma has generated considerable controversy. Its importance stems from its involvement in the understanding of memory processes, and for its importance in forensic contexts. The aim of this study was to analyze the factors that help explain the controversy surrounding memories for trauma. To do this the definition of trauma and the factors that can determine the memory were analyzed. Also, the accuracy of memories for trauma was analyzed. The explanation of memory for trauma is depending on the concept of trauma. If trauma is defined by its psychological effects, then studies support that memories for trauma are different from other autobiographical memories. If trauma is defined by the characteristics of its cause, then studies support that memory for trauma are different from other memories. Regardless of focus, factors that influence the recall should be considered. Stress level, intensity of emotion, and degree of involvement are the most important. The effect of these factors affects the ability to deploy strategies to face the trauma, and it is important to understand the differences in the accuracy and accessibility of memories.

Traumatic Events Exposure and Psychological Trauma in Children Victims of War in the Gaza Strip

The present article studies war-related trauma and its effects on children living in the Gaza Strip, 6 months after the attack launched by the Israeli army on July 8, 2014, which lasted for 51 days. The objective was twofold: (a) to identify the prevalence of exposure to traumatic events and (b) to examine the symptoms of traumatic stress in children as described by their parents or tutors using the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ). Data from 1,850 male and female children aged between 6 and 15 years living in the Gaza Strip were collected throughout the months of February and April 2015, that is 6 months after the attack. Results showed that the majority of the children were exposed to bombardments and residential area destruction (83.51%), were confined at home unable to go outside (72.92%), were witness to the profanation of mosques (70.38%), were exposed to combat situations (66.65%), and saw corpses (59.95%). A sample of 275 males (28.3%) and 232 females (26.5%) showed diagnoses of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Gender and age were independent of PTSD. The presence of this pathology was positively related to the number of trauma events experienced. The type of traumatic experience was hardly related to age and gender. A greater protection on behalf of the families against exposure to traumatic events could explain these differences.