False Memory for Trauma-Related DRM Lists in Adolescents and Adults with Histories of Child Sexual Abuse

The purpose of the present research was to examine Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) false memory for trauma-related and nontrauma-related lists in adolescents and adults with and without documented histories of child sexual abuse (CSA). Individual differences in psychopathology and adult attachment were also explored. Participants were administered free recall and recognition tests after hearing CSA, negative, neutral, and positive DRM lists. In free recall, CSA and negative lists produced the most false memory. In sharp contrast, for recognition, CSA lists enjoyed the highest d’ scores. CSA-group adolescents who evinced greater PTSD symptoms had higher rates of false memory compared to: 1) nonCSA-group adolescents with higher PTSD symptom scores (free recall), and 2) CSA-group adolescents with lower PTSD symptom scores (recognition). Regression analyses revealed that individuals with higher PTSD scores and greater fearful-avoidant attachment tendencies showed less proficient memory monitoring for CSA lists. Implications for trauma and memory development and for translational research are discussed

Witness Participation in the Criminal Justice System: Perceptions of the Legitimacy of Police and the Reporting of Crime

Witnesses and victims often choose not to report crimes to police. Previous research suggests that decisions to report and participate in the criminal justice process are the product of a complex, multi-determined confluence of cognitive, social, and cultural factors. The focus of this dissertation was to examine the relationship between attitudes regarding the legitimacy of police, expressed willingness to report crimes, and actual crime reporting. Study 1, conducted with 309 undergraduate students, was designed to assess whether the relationship between perceptions of legitimacy and expressed willingness to report varied depending on the specific crime conditions. The results showed that when presented with broad, hypothetical questions that do not specify the crime conditions (i.e., the typical method used in willingness studies), individuals imagine their own crime scenarios. Willingness to report varied depending on the specific conditions imagined and based on explicitly defined features of the crime. The legitimacy-willingness relationship was robust, regardless of whether respondents imagined the crime features or they were explicitly provided with them. Study 2 assessed attitudes about the legitimacy of police and crime reporting behavior among 75 undergraduates who had either been a witness or victim of a serious crime within the previous two years. Attitudes about the legitimacy of the police were strongly associated with respondents' expressed willingness to report crimes to the police, but were not associated with actual crime reporting behavior. Expressed willingness was strongly associated with actual crime reporting. The results underscore the importance of social factors associated with actual reporting. Specifically, victims and witnesses were less likely to report crimes when: (a) they were committed by perpetrators they knew; (b) they perceived the crime as not serious; (c) they did not fear retaliation; (d) they feared being labeled a "snitch;" (e) they did not talk to a parent or co-witness after the crime occurred; and, (f) they did not perceive crime reporting as a moral duty. Implications for process-based theories of control, police practice and procedure, and future research are discussed