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

The effect of a suggestive interview on children’s memory of a repeated event: Does it matter whether suggestions are linked to a particular incident?

This study examined the impact of linking misleading information to a particular occurrence of a repeated event. Children aged 5- to 6-years took part in the same staged event four times and 16 target details varied in each occurrence (e.g., the colour of a cloak varied each time). Three days or three weeks later they were asked questions, some of which included false information, about the final occurrence. The next day, the children were required to recall what happened in the final occurrence. Compared to children whose biasing interview was not focused on any particular occurrence of the repeated event, linking the biasing interview to the final occurrence increased the number of suggested details that were reported. Interestingly, the children whose biasing interview was not focused on any occurrence were also less likely to report the false suggestions than another group of children who had only experienced the event once and whose biasing interview was linked to that single occurrence. These findings have implications for how lawyers and investigative interviewers question children about multiple incidents

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

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

Experimental analysis of dense multipath components in an industrial environment

This work presents an analysis of dense multipath components (DMC) in an industrial workshop. Radio channel sounding was performed with a vector network analyzer and virtual antenna arrays. The specular and dense multipath components were estimated with the RiMAX algorithm. The DMC covariance structure of the RiMAX data model was validated. Two DMC parameters were studied: the distribution of radio channel power between specular and dense multipath, and the DMC reverberation time. The DMC power accounted for 23% to 70% of the total channel power. A significant difference between DMC powers in line-of-sight and nonline-of-sight was observed, which can be largely attributed to the power of the line-of-sight multipath component. In agreement with room electromagnetics theory, the DMC reverberation time was found to be nearly constant. Overall, DMC in the industrial workshop is more important than in office environments: it occupies a fraction of the total channel power that is 4% to 13% larger. The industrial environment absorbs on average 29% of the electromagnetic energy compared to 45%-51% for office environments in literature: this results in a larger reverberation time in the former environment. These findings are explained by the highly cluttered and metallic nature of the workshop

Emulsions stabilised by whey protein microgel particles: Towards food-grade Pickering emulsions

We have investigated a new class of food-grade particles, whey protein microgels, as stabilisers of triglyceride-water emulsions. The sub-micron particles stabilized oil-in-water emulsions at all pH with and without salt. All emulsions creamed but exhibited exceptional resistance to coalescence. Clear correlations exist between the properties of the microgels in aqueous dispersion and the resulting emulsion characteristics. For conditions in which the particles were uncharged, fluid emulsions with relatively large drops were stabilised, whereas emulsions stabilized by charged particles contained smaller flocculated drops. A combination of optical microscopy of the drops and spectrophotometry of the resolved aqueous phase allowed us to estimate the interfacial adsorption densities of the particles using the phenomenon of limited coalescence. We deduce two classes of particle arrangement. Complete adsorption of the particles was obtained when they were neutral or when their charges were screened by salt resulting in at least one particle monolayer at the interface. By contrast, only around 50% of the particles adsorbed when they were charged with emulsion drops being covered by less than half a monolayer. These findings were supported by direct visualization of drop interfaces using cryo-scanning electron microscopy. Uncharged particles were highly aggregated and formed a continuous 2-D network at the interface. Otherwise particles organized as individual aggregates separated by particle-free regions. In this case, we suggest that some particles spread at the interface leading to the formation of a continuous protein membrane. Charged particles displayed the ability to bridge opposing interfaces of neighbouring drops to form dense particle disks protecting drops against coalescence; this is the main reason for the flocculation and stability of emulsions containing sparsely covered drops. © 2014 the Partner Organisations

Experimental study of depolarization and antenna correlation in tunnels in the 1.3 GHz band

Measurements have been carried out in a low-traffic road tunnel to investigate the influence of the polarization of the transmitting and receiving antennas on the channel characteristics. A real-time channel sounder working in a frequency band around 1.3 GHz has been used, the elements of the transmitting and receiving arrays being dual-polarized patch antennas. Special emphasis is made on cross-polarization discrimination factor and on the spatial correlation between array elements which has a great influence on the performances of transmit/receive diversity schemes. Various polarizations both at the transmitter and the receiver have been tested to minimize this spatial correlation while keeping the size of the array as small as possible