CHILDRENS MEMORY FOR MEDICAL EXPERIENCES - IMPLICATIONS FOR TESTIMONY

Because medical procedures involve bodily contact and may evoke discom fort or pain, they are in some ways analogous to instances of child ab use. As such, the study of children's memory for medical experiences p rovides information that is relevant for an understanding of their abi lities to provide accurate eyewitness testimony. This article summariz es the results of a number of studies that have explored children's lo ng-term retention of details of routine physical examinations as well as other less familiar and more stressful medical procedures. The goal of this work has been to chart age differences in the retention and f orgetting of pediatric check-ups and to examine some of the variables that affect children's memory for the details of medical procedures. T he results of this research program are discussed in the context of fo ur general themes about the flow of information within the memory syst em. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.