Retrieval of episodic versus generic information: Does the order of recall affect the amount and accuracy of details reported by children about repeated events?

Children (N = 157) 4- to 8-years old participated 1 (single) or 4 times (repeated) in an interactive event. Across each condition, half were questioned a week later about the only or a specific occurrence of the event (Depth-first), and then about what usually happens. Half were prompted in the reverse order (Breadth-first). Children with repeated experience who first were asked about what usually happens reported more event-related information overall than those asked about an occurrence first. All children used episodic language when describing an occurrence; however children with repeated-event experience used episodic language less often when describing what usually happens than did those with single experience. Accuracy rates did not differ between conditions. Implications for theories of repeated-event memory are discussed

Children’s ability to recall unique aspects of one occurrence of a repeated event

Preschool and school-age children’s memory and source monitoring were investigated by questioning them about one occurrence of a repeated lab event (n = 39). Each of the four occurrences had the same structure, but with varying alternatives for the specific activities and items presented. Variable details had a different alternative each time; hi/lo details presented the identical alternative three times and changed once. New details were present in one occurrence only and thus had no alternatives. Children more often confused variable, lo, and new details across occurrences than hi details. The 4- to 5-year-oldchildren were less accurate than 7- to 8-year-old children at attributing details to the correct occurrence when specifically asked. Younger children rarely recalled new details spontaneously, whereas 50% of the older children did and were above chance at attributing them to their correct occurrence. Results are discussed with reference to script theory, fuzzy-trace theory and the source-monitoring framework

Type Ia supernova diversity: Standardizing the candles

Future use of type Ia supernovae for cosmology aims not only to determine the equation of state of dark energy, but also to constrain possible variations in its value. To achieve this goal, supernovae need to become better calibrated standard candles - not only to improve the precision of the measurement, but more importantly to gain better control over systematic uncertainties in order to ensure the accuracy of the result. Here we report on a project to quantify the diversity in type Ia supernovae, and to look for trends and/or sub-types that can be used to improve their calibration as standard candles. We implement a version of principal component analysis on type Ia supernova spectra. Although the quantity of data is not sufficient to draw any firm conclusions we show that this method holds promise for, at the very least, effectively separating peculiar supernovae. Whether it can be further used to improve the calibration of normal type Ia's remains a project for future study.Comment: Conference Proceedings. Cefalu 2006, The multicoloured landscape of compact objects and their explosive origins. Six pages, three figure

Mental context reinstatement reduces resistance to false suggestions after children have experienced a repeated event

When children allege repeated abuse, they are required to provide details about specific instances. This often results in children confusing details from different instances and so we examined whether ‘mental context reinstatement’ (MCR) could be used to improve children’s accuracy. Children (N = 120, 6-7-year olds) participated in 4 activities over a 2-week period and were interviewed about the last (4th) time with a standard recall or mental context reinstatement interview. They were then asked questions about specific details, and some questions contained false information. When interviewed again a day later, children in the MCR condition resisted false suggestions that were consistent with the event more than false suggestions that were inconsistent; in contrast, children in the standard interview condition were equally suggestible for both false detail types and showed a ‘yes bias’. The results suggest a practical way of eliciting more accurate information from child witnesses

Percolation Transitions in Scale-Free Networks under Achlioptas Process

It has been recently shown that the percolation transition is discontinuous in Erd\H{o}s-R\'enyi networks and square lattices in two dimensions under the Achlioptas Process (AP). Here, we show that when the structure is highly heterogeneous as in scale-free networks, a discontinuous transition does not always occur: a continuous transition is also possible depending on the degree distribution of the scale-free network. This originates from the competition between the AP that discourages the formation of a giant component and the existence of hubs that encourages it. We also estimate the value of the characteristic degree exponent that separates the two transition types.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure