Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Most life experiences are not truly unique: People tend to experience the same types of events repeatedly, with minor variations (e.g., going to work, visiting the doctor). When children experience several similar versions of an event, the task of accurately remembering which particular occurrence involved which details (e.g., what colour of tie was worn on Tuesday versus Friday) is cognitively challenging. From decades of research on children's memory for repeated events, we know that reports of repeated experiences differ from reports of unique experiences. We also know that with sufficiently supportive retrieval cues, accessing details from particular occurrences is possible. However, little research has been conducted that has addressed the precise nature of these ""sufficiently supportive cues"". In this work, I will explore various techniques that will assist in retrieval of memory for occurrences of repeated events. The results from this research may enhance both our understanding of how memory for individual occurrences of repeated events is represented and be used to develop strategies that use this understanding to facilitate retrieval of such instances from memory. In an applied context, these retrieval cues may assist forensic investigators in better questioning children about experiences that have occurred more than once (e.g., sexual abuse).