Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Most experiences in life are not unique and thus, are repeated to some extent. Each time we go to work, visit the dentist, or try to find our keys, we rely on our memory of prior experiences to execute these tasks efficiently. In many contexts, our ability to remember what usually happens is adequate. Sometimes, however, our ability to recall what happened one time can have substantive implications for ourselves and those around us. This research in the grant focused on better understanding the conditions under which we can access memory for one particular instance of a repeated event. This work has application to the legal system in which a witness is asked to report details of one criminal event from a series of similar criminal events. For instance, when a child has been repeatedly abused, he or she will often be asked to provide details of one particular instance of the abuse in order to allow the accused to raise a defence against the allegation. When an asylum seeker arrives at an international border to seek entry, he or she will be asked about the events that caused him or her to flee; very often the asylum seeker is fleeing repeated persecution and will be asked to describe particular instances. All of these situations require access to memory for instances of a repeated event. Research on memory for instances of repeated events has established that accessing memory for a particular instance can be difficult. Importantly, at some point, memory for a particular instance is lost. However, we do not yet fully know the conditions under which the loss of instance memory is more or less likely. When recalling an instance that is part of a series, we often confuse details from other instances, report fewer accurate details, and are more inconsistent in our descriptions of a particular instance. This pattern of errors tells us that the memory for each instance in a series is likely to ultimately become confused with the other instances. Yet, we have not yet established the conditions under which this confusion is more or less likely. This program of research is designed to experimentally investigate how instance memory can be accessed. Through a series of experiments, this research will help us to predict the circumstances under which we can recall particular details of an instance of a repeated event. This knowledge can then be used to advance theories of memory and, ultimately, to develop strategies that will help people to report details of individual instances that are part of a series of similar events. As a result of this new knowledge, we can develop ways to facilitate participation in the justice system for victims and witnesses of repeated crime and victimization.