Some of the most serious crimes investigated by the legal system involve adults' memories of traumatic childhood experiences. Laws that permit adults to initiate criminal and civil actions about childhood victimization have raised scientific and legal interest in eyewitness identification of persons involved in acts that occurred decades ago. The present study will help guide theory and application when adults exposed to early trauma are asked to identify perpetrators of legally relevant actions experienced in childhood. The justice system will profit from development of scientifically based techniques to better ensure the accuracy of eyewitness identifications after long delays. The study will also aid the judiciary by providing guidance about the validity of techniques in cases where victims are asked to identify perpetrators from childhood.
This research examines whether false identifications can be minimized through scientifically based techniques incorporated into a widely used, science-based interview protocol, called the Cognitive Interview. The research goals are to examine: (a) effects of the Cognitive Interview with mental and context reinstatement on eyewitness identification in adults who have documented histories of childhood trauma; (b) effects of prior interviews and lineups in childhood versus no initial interviews or lineups on adults' long-term recognition memory; and (c) individual-difference predictors of photo identification accuracy after a 20 year delay. The research benefits from a prospective-longitudinal study of a large sample of child victims. Researchers will collect a second wave of data (Time 2) on these participants assessed earlier as children (Time 1). Participants' abilities to correctly identify Time 1 individuals will be assessed at Time 2 along with the participants' confidence of the identifications. Individual differences measured at Time 1 and 2 will be analyzed to determine predictors of accuracy. This innovative project provides much needed longitudinal information on eyewitness memory in adults with histories of childhood trauma.
