The traumatic memory debate: A failure in scientific communication and cooperation

Perhaps no other topic in recent history has generated such emotionality as the ongoing traumatic memory debate involving alleged reports of physical and sexual abuse. The literature on this topic is replete with reliance on anecdotal statements, unwarranted and grossly overstated generalizations, emotionally laden conclusions, attacks and counterattacks. This state of affairs has resulted in creating a polarization between cognitive memory researchers and clinical researchers who are attempting to resolve the debate through scientific inquiry. Unfortunately, the databases on both sides of the issue are weak. The purpose of this article is to highlight the key issues at the center of this debate in an attempt to move the debate forward. It is argued that resolution of this debate can only be achieved by conducting appropriately designed clinical research with a population of traumatically abused subjects. To achieve this objective, both sides need to suppress their emotional rhetoric, open lines of communication, and engage in cooperative research efforts. This issue is too important for both the field of psychology and society as a whole to remain polarized and unresolved.     

Nonrelativist Ethical Standards for Goal Setting in Psychotherapy

A number of authors have commented on the topic of mandated reporting in cases of suspected child maltreatment and the application of this requirement to researchers. Most of these commentaries focus on the interpretation of current legal standards and offer opinions for or against the imposition of mandated reporting laws on research activities. Authors on both sides of the issue offer ethical arguments, although a direct comparison and analysis of these opposing arguments is rare. This article critically examines the ethical arguments made by authors on both sides of the debate. The conclusion is reached that researchers should be mandated reporters of child maltreatment because the current arguments do not justify their exclusion from current ethical and legal standards. The author makes recommendations for the ethically responsible conduct of research in regard to this topic and legal implications are discussed.     

Considerations Relating to the Study of Group Differences in Intelligence

ABSTRACT— There are signs that the debate over racial and gender differences in intelligence is about to begin again. In this article we will be concerned primarily with racial differences but will make remarks about gender differences where applicable. Previously there have been bitter arguments over whether or not races exist, over whether it is either important or proper to study racial and gender differences in intelligence, and over the conclusions that have been drawn about environmental and genetic causes as determinants of these differences. We argue that races do, indeed, exist and that studying differences in cognitive competence between groups is a reasonable thing to do. We also point out that past research on both racial and gender differences in intelligence has been marked by methodological errors and overgeneralizations by researchers on all sides of the issue. We propose ten principles of design, analysis, and reporting that ought to be considered carefully when doing or evaluating research in this area.     

Animal memory: Past, present and future

This paper introduces a special issue on animal memory and discusses progress made as a result of the present upsurge of interest in the topic, an upsurge that owes much to developments in human cognitive psychology and neuropsychology. Work reported over the last decade has shown that the memory capacity of (at least some) animals is larger—in terms both of number of items stored and of duration of retention—than might previously have been expected. Recent physiological investigations appear to have succeeded in reconciling the effect on memory of hippocampal lesions in humans and non-humans, and further work on the hippocampus may help establish the physical nature of the changes involved in setting up memories. Theoretical accounts of animal memory rely on concepts drawn from cognitive psychology, and various experimental approaches to one particular notion, that animals may rehearse recent information, are discussed. Finally, the research papers of this issue are introduced to show their place in the broad context of memory research.     

Generation disrupts memory for intrinsic context but not extrinsic context

Although generation typically enhances item memory, the effect is subject to a number of theoretically important limitations. One potential limitation concerns context memory but there has been debate about whether generation actually enhances or disrupts memory for contextual details. Five experiments assessed the effect of generation on context memory for perceptual attributes of the study stimulus (intrinsic context). The results indicate that despite enhancing item memory, generation disrupts memory for intrinsic context. This result generalized over different intrinsic details (print colour and font), different generation manipulations, and several methodological factors identified in earlier research as potential moderators of this negative generation effect. Despite the negative generation effect on intrinsic context, contextual details external to the target item (extrinsic context) are not disrupted. In a sixth experiment, a visually based generation task (letter transposition) enhanced context memory for the extrinsic detail of location. Coupled with earlier research, the results indicate that generation disrupts context memory for intrinsic details but either does not harm or enhances memory for extrinsic context.     

Introduction: Multicultural Perspectives of Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma

Intergenerational transmission of trauma (ITT) has increasingly been a topic of interest among researchers. What still appears lacking is the thorough understanding of ITT in various marginalized cultural groups. This special issue is the second part of a 2-part series that systematically reviews the literature, synthesizes the literature, and conducts original research in ITT in marginalized groups. Due to known devastating and far-reaching effects of ITT, the authors of the 4 articles in this special issue attempt to shed light on ITT mechanisms and salient sociocultural factors that might lead to or exacerbate ITT in 4 marginalized communities. The authors also offer suggestions on culturally responsive ways of healing from ITT in these cultural groups.     

The need to expand the horizons of the practical aspects of memory movement

The Practical Aspects of Memory movement began as a forum for applied memory research and as and acid test for basic memory theory. Contrary to initial expectations, the movement has attracted far fewer applied researchers and, instead, has primarily drawn researchers concerned with the ecological validity of basic research. The purpose of this special issue is to demonstrate to practical memory researchers the rewards of giving more consideration to applied memory research in government, industry, education, and consulting. This article explains that the Practical Aspects of Memory movement needs to give more consideration to applied research that does not emanate from basic theory, because such research may identify phenomena that basic research should investigate. It is argued here that an examination of the potential contributions of applied memory research will facilitate communication among basic, ecological, and applied researchers, thereby strengthening the movement's ability to contribute to the solution of societal problems.     

Retrieval practice improves learning in children with diverse visual word recognition skills

ABSTRACT

A large body of research shows that performing tests is more beneficial for the retention of studied materials than restudying those materials, a phenomenon termed “testing-effect”. A contemporary debate on the testing effect literature concerns whether the benefits of tests are equivalent for individuals with different cognitive skills, as the capacity to decode written words, for example. In the current study, we approached this issue in two experiments by examining whether testing is equally beneficial for children with diverse visual word decoding skills. To achieve this goal, we recruited sixth and fourth grade children (experiments 1 and 2, respectively) and administered a reading aloud task to assess their visual word recognition skills, and administered a memory task about an encyclopedic text to promote the testing effect. Memory for the restudied/tested contents of the encyclopedic text were probed after a seven-day interval, and although children from both experiments showed robust testing effects, such effects were not associated with their visual word decoding skills. These findings suggest that children with diverse word decoding skills can be benefited by retrieval practice.     

Non-abstractive global-matching models: A framework for investigating the distinctiveness effect on explicit and implicit memory

One very well-known memory phenomenon is the observation that if a specific item seems to be different or rare in any way from other items present in the same encoding context, this item is likely to be remembered more accurately. This phenomenon, named the von Restorff effect or the isolation effect, has been known since 1933 and been considered today as one of the possible ways to create distinctiveness. The aim of this article is to report that the current debate concerning its non-emergence in implicit memory tasks is directly due to a theoretical disagreement about the nature of human memory. In this paper, we conclude that non-abstractive global-matching models can provide an effective theoretical framework for the study of the distinctiveness effect with isolation both in implicit and explicit memory tasks.     

Do automatic mental associations detect a flashbulb memory?

Flashbulb memories (FBMs) are defined as detailed memories for the reception context in which people first heard of a public and emotionally relevant event. For many years researchers have been debating whether FBMs can be considered a special class of emotional memories, or whether they suffer the same fate as ordinary autobiographical formations. The debate on the real existence of this special class of memories reflects the difficulty of establishing their accuracy. Three indices have been defined as proxies for FBM accuracy: specificity of recalled details, individuals’ confidence in their memory, and memory consistency over time. However, all approaches to FBM assessment have been based on explicit self-report measures. In two studies we aimed to detect FBMs for two emotional public events, by simultaneously employing explicit traditional FBM measures and implicit measures based on the autobiographical Implicit Association Test (aIAT). Jointly considered, the results from the two studies showed that the implicit measures were able to discriminate a FBM, and appeared significantly associated with explicit traditional measures of FBM Specificity, Confidence, and Consistency. Both explicit and implicit assessments concurred to correctly estimate a FBM. Implications for the FBM debate are discussed.     

The effects of collaborative practice on statistical problem solving: Benefits and boundaries

In recent years, understanding the effects of collaboration on learning and memory has emerged as a major topic of investigation. Findings from applied educational research and from basic cognitive research demonstrate a complex view of how collaboration affects learning. The present laboratory study bridged these two domains of research to address the question of how collaborative learning affects statistical problem solving. After viewing a lecture, participants completed two statistics tests. They either completed the tests collaboratively and then individually, or completed both tests individually. Results showed an immediate benefit of collaboration, but this benefit did not persist on a subsequent individual test. Repeated practice by those who worked individually increased performance to the level of those who had previously collaborated. These results were qualified by gender as females showed a consistent benefit from prior collaboration on the post-collaborative test, particularly on conceptual problems. Implications for education are discussed.     

Going global: Functions of autobiographical remembering world tour

This special issue showcases research from around the world that takes a functional approach to autobiographical remembering. In doing so, it inspires researchers to reach out to new populations. This commentary begins with a brief history of the functional approach. Person–environment interactions, in this case how individuals use memory in their current cultural context, are at the core of that approach. Based on current theoretical thinking in this area, I review the papers in this issue with the aim of exploring: (1) where culture and function might fit in current conceptualisations of autobiographical memory, (2) the relation of culture to socio-structural variables such as gender and life phase in shaping the functions of memory and (3) differences in cultural tendencies to use autobiographical memory as a resource to fulfil universal human needs.     

Person-centred coping research

In this concluding article we discuss the three approaches to biographical stress and coping research presented in this issue, under four main headings. The first topic comprises the comparison of the three approaches with regard to their biographical features. In a second part we turn to the issue of coping and examine differences as well as similarities between the coping concept of Hans Thomae, on the one hand and that of Lazarus and Folkman on the other hand. The third and fourth of our discussion points deal with two central topics, that are accentuated in present personality psychology: the person-situation issue and the idiographic-nomothetic debate. With regard to both topics, we discuss the ideas and research findings which Lazarus and Folkman, as well as Thomae are contributing to these issues. We conclude our discussion of biographical approaches to stress and coping by proposing a person-centred approach, that can be regarded as a further development of theoretical conceptualizations contained in the approaches of Lazarus and Thomae.     

Similarities and differences between traumatic and emotional memories: review and directions for future research

The authors review theory and empirical research on the characteristics of memories for traumatic versus emotional events, with the goal of bringing together the cognitive and clinical perspectives on this issue. They consider the most important approaches to the study of traumatic and emotional memory and summarize the results of recent studies that have compared autobiographical recollections of traumatic and nontraumatic emotional experiences (positive and negative), either in nonclinical or clinical samples. Overall, findings from the current empirical literature are inconsistent. Although some researchers have found that traumatic memories are retrieved differently than are emotional memories, others have demonstrated that the phenomenological characteristics of these memory types are highly similar. The authors discuss methodological issues that could help researchers to interpret the inconsistencies found in the empirical findings. Last, they suggest possible directions for future research that may advance researchers' knowledge of memory, trauma, and emotion.     

What research paradigms have cognitive psychologists used to study "false memory," and what are the implications of these choices?

This research examines the methodologies employed by cognitive psychologists to study "false memory," and assesses if these methodologies are likely to facilitate scientific progress or perhaps constrain the conclusions reached. A PsycINFO search of the empirical publications in cognitive psychology was conducted through January, 2004, using the subject heading, "false memory." The search produced 198 articles. Although there is an apparent false memory research bandwagon in cognitive psychology, with increasing numbers of studies published on this topic over the past decade, few researchers (only 13.1% of the articles) have studied false memory as the term was originally intended--to specifically refer to planting memory for an entirely new event that was never experienced in an individual's lifetime. Cognitive psychologists interested in conducting research relevant to assessing the authenticity of memories for child sexual abuse should consider the generalizability of their research to the planting of entirely new events in memory.     

The extreme-right and enfranchisement of immigrants: Main issues in the public “debate” on integration in Belgium

In Belgium, the issue of (local) enfranchisement of foreign residents has without any doubt become the most salient topic of public debate on integration of immigrants and their descendants. Although debate about the issue dates back to the early 1970s, at the start of the 21st century it is still one of the hottest topics in Belgian politics. A second salient topic concerns the strategy against the Flemish extreme-right wing party the Vlaams Blok, or the debate about the so-called ‘cordon sanitaire’ since the 1990s. This contribution wants to discuss the public debate on voting rights for non-Belgians and the strategy against the Vlaams Blok as the most contentious issues in the wider debate about (the future of) immigrant incorporation in Belgian society. Thus, we hope to be able to clarify the (absence of) debate on integration and multiculturalism in Belgium.     

Flexible representations in visual working memory and interactions with long‐term learning: Commentary on the special issue

This special issue of the British Journal of Psychology brings together cutting edge research on a range of topics in visual working memory (VWM). In this commentary, we attempt to summarize common themes in current VWM research exemplified in this issue. The articles include several reviews of important topics as well as empirical papers covering three main themes. The first concerns the nature of mental representations of memoranda in the commonly used delayed estimation task, where both fine‐grained and broad categorical details appear to be represented, and their susceptibility to interference. The second concerns interactions between VWM representations, both those that produce individuation of representations and those that create an overarching ensemble structure. Finally, the third main topic concerns the use of VWM during visual search and in the learning of repeated configurations in search displays. The work presented here, and other work in the field, points to a rich interplay between representations in VWM but also between VWM and information in long‐term memory. Opportunities for further investigation are highlighted throughout.     

Using empirical data to inform the ethical evaluation of placebo controlled trials

There has been considerable debate about the ethical acceptability of using placebo-controls in clinical research. Although this debate has been rich in rhetoric, considering that much of this research is predicated upon the assumption that data from this research is vital to clinical decision-making, it is ironic that researchers have introduced little data into these discussions. Using some published research concerning the use of placebo-controls in clinical research in hypertension and psychiatric drug trials, I suggest some ways that such data might be incorporated into the ethical analysis concerning placebo use in clinical trials. This approach promises to be important for enhancing conceptual and scientific understanding as well as public policy decision-making. An earlier version of this paper was presented at an international conference, “Placebo: Its Action and Place in Health Research Today,” held in Warsaw, Poland on 12–13 April, 2003.     

Aging and Autobiographical Memory: The Long and Bumpy Road

This article serves as an introduction to this special issue of Journal of Adult Development that deals with the topic of aging and autobiographical memory. Methodological issues, empirical findings, and theoretical frameworks that bear on older adults' autobiographical recall are discussed. Special emphasis is placed on an examination of the factors that underlie the offset of infantile amnesia and the reminiscence bump. An integrative approach to the study of aging and autobiographical memory is proposed that brings together paradigms from experimental psychology, clinical neuropsychology, and neuroimaging.     

A note on schema and exemplar approaches to motor skill representation in memory

Given the need for a memory representation of well-learned motor skills, a common assumption in motor behavior is that this knowledge is stored in a central, abstracted form. Active production of motor skills has not been used in experimental designs that have provided empirical support for this view of representation, however. Much of the faith in centralized, abstracted forms of memory representation for motor skills is due to the popularity of Schmidt's schema theory, which has adapted the prototype abstraction model from category learning research to the representation of motor skills. Since schema theory was proposed, however, an alternative view that seriously questions the preeminence of the prototype abstraction model for the central representation of knowledge has arisen in the category learning literature. This particular view, termed the specific exemplar model, has led a number of researchers in cognition to develop mixed models that involve both prototypic abstraction and specific exemplar elements. This note, then, identifies what can be perceived as a gap in the empirical knowledge base in motor behavior and discusses the possibility of using the debate about representation for category learning as a stimulus for initiating a similar investigation into the representation of motor skills. A hypothetical specific exemplar model for the memory representation of motor skills is outlined, and possible empirical comparisons between this model and the schema abstraction model are suggested.