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Understanding the mechanics of how human memory works is necessary for assessing allegations of child sexual abuse. In his text, memory researcher Richard McNally (2005) explains basic principles involved in memory for normal and traumatic events. Following is a summary of processes that are relevant when evaluating these allegations.
Archive | Forensic Services
Competency to Stand Trial Assessment of Defendants with Intellectual Disabilities
By Daniel H. Swerdlow-Freed, Ph.D. on April 10, 2019 in Competency To Stand Trial, Forensic Services
In 1960, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Dusky v. United States, established the minimal standard for competency to stand trial: Whether the defendant has sufficient present ability to consult with his attorney with a reasonable degree of understanding and a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him.
The importance of questioning children in a developmentally-sensitive fashion
By Daniel H. Swerdlow-Freed, Ph.D. on July 29, 2018 in Forensic Interviewing of Children, Forensic Services
Research-based forensic interview protocols direct interviewers to use question prompts that encourage children to report events in their own words and minimize questions that convey information from the interviewer or that introduces topics the child has not previously mentioned (Poole, 2016).
What is source monitoring and why is it relevant to forensic interviews of children?
By Daniel H. Swerdlow-Freed, Ph.D. on April 29, 2018 in Forensic Interviewing of Children, Forensic Services
What is source monitoring? “Source monitoring refers to the set of processes involved in making attributions about the origins of memories, knowledge and beliefs” (Johnson, Hashtroudi, & Lindsay, 1993, (p. 3). Memory source monitoring addresses the question – how do we know what we know? Is our knowledge based on direct experience or did it […]
Forensic interviewing guidelines: Is the “something else” option appropriate in child forensic interviews?
By Daniel H. Swerdlow-Freed, Ph.D. on January 3, 2018 in Forensic Interviewing of Children, Forensic Services
A forensic interviewing guideline exists that directs child forensic interviewers to include a something else option as a response choice to closed questions. This response option is based on the premise that a child will select the something else option if the other response options are false, and when prompted, will self-generate the correct answer.
