The postevent information paradigm was further
extended to examine adult memories for childhood
events implanted by suggestion. The first of these
studies involved implanting a childhood memory of
being lost in a shopping mall in college students. Later
researchers extended these findings using what has
been termed the familial informant false narrative pro-
cedure. In this procedure, family members first
complete a questionnaire about events from the partici-
pant’s childhood. Later, participants are interviewed
about actual childhood events obtained from the coop-
erating family members and one invented childhood
event (e.g., spilling punch on the parents of the bride at
a family wedding). Participants are asked to repeatedly
think about or imagine these invented events. Research
has shown that false memories for childhood events can
be created in 20% to 40% of participants using this
technique.Self-Serving Memories
In addition to fragmentary information from the event
itself, prior knowledge in the form of scripts and
schemas, and postevent information, some theories of
reconstructive memory also assume that self-concept
can influence how events are reconstructed. According
to these theories, one’s self-concept can distort how
events are remembered. One intriguing case study
compared John Dean’s testimony at the House
Watergate Hearings with taped transcripts of White
House meetings involving Dean, Richard Nixon,
H. R. Haldeman, and other White House officials. The
study revealed that Dean’s memory appeared to show
systematic distortions that tended to exaggerate his
own role in those meetings. Thus, Dean’s memory
showed a kind of self-serving bias. Later research on
autobiographical memory showed that people’s mem-
ories could be distorted by their current self-concept.Current Trends and
Forensic Implications
Reconstructive theories of long-term memory provide a
powerful way of understanding important forensic
issues such as how witnesses remember crimes and
accidents, how adults remember childhood experi-
ences, how children remember events, and even how
jurors remember evidence. These theories stand in
sharp contrast to reproductive theories of memory,which view memory as more like a videotape recorder.
Research on reconstructive memories currently empha-
sizes the subjective experience of memories produced
by reconstructive processes, whether true and false
memories can be distinguished, how errors of commis-
sion can be avoided, and the individual differences that
influence the use of reconstructive processes.James Michael Lampinen
and Jeffrey S. NeuschatzSee alsoChildren’s Testimony; Eyewitness Memory;
False Memories; Postevent Information and Eyewitness
Memory; Source Monitoring and Eyewitness MemoryFurther Readings
Bartlett, F. (1932). Remembering.Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press.
Graesser, A. C., Woll, S. B., Kowalski, D. J., & Smith, D. A.
(1980). Memory for typical and atypical actions in
scripted activities. Journal of Experimental Psychology:
Human Learning and Memory, 6,503–515.
Hyman, I. E., Husband, T. F., & Billings, J. F. (1995). False
memories of childhood experiences. Applied Cognitive
Psychology, 9,181–197.
Loftus, E. F. (1979). The malleability of human memory:
Information introduced after we view an incident can
transform memory. American Scientist, 67,312–320.
Neisser, U. (1967). Cognitive psychology.New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts.REIDTECHNIQUE
FOR INTERROGATIONS
Law enforcement personnel use a variety of proce-
dures to elicit confessions from suspects. The Reid
Technique uses psychological methods to elicit con-
fessions from those who are believed to be guilty,
without the need to resort to physical force to extract
a confession. The technique, initially developed in the
1940s and 1950s, was first published in 1942 by Fred
Inbau and was called “Lie Detection and Criminal
Interrogation.” The technique has evolved over the
years into what is now known as the Reid Technique.
The nine-step process for effective interrogation has
been used in police-training programs nationally. The
Reid Technique or similar methods are routinely used678 ———Reid Technique for InterrogationsR-Cutler (Encyc)-45463.qxd 11/18/2007 12:43 PM Page 678