Browsing by Subject "Memory in children"
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Item An exploratory investigation of the nature of recovered childhood memories(Texas Tech University, 1998-08) Parker, Randy LanceThe unconscious was first studied in the 1600s, repression in the 1700s; and the therapeutic approach involving the recovery of repressed memories was introduced in the mid-1800s. Nevertheless, Freud is often credited with these discoveries. However, the contemporary definition of repression is markedly narrower than the one that Freud usually used, and its use has recently prompted a great deal of contentious debate regarding whether people have repressed, dissociated, suppressed, or simply forgotten memories of childhood sexual abuse, and some evidence suggests that it is possible to develop false memories of childhood sexual abuse. Recent research has also found that similar proportions of those with sexual or physical or emotional abuse histories report recovered memories of abuse. In addition, the majority of those within several college student samples have reported recovering memories of childhood events, suggesting that it may be normative to recover childhood memories. While the phenomenon of recovered childhood memory may be common, the mechanisms responsible for these memories are not well understood This study (N = 67 nonclinical participants with and without reported abuse histories) investigated the nature and characteristics of individuals' recovered childhood memories through the use of semi-structured interviews. It was found that nine different memory mechanisms (conscious and unconscious) appeared to be responsible for the recovered childhood memories that the participants reported. A history of abuse was not found to be related to quality of childhood memory, nor was recovering memories of childhood abuse. A history of abuse was related to current depressive symptoms, but recovering memories of abuse did not predict higher endorsement of depressive symptoms. The severity of the childhood abuse was also unrelated to the recovery of abuse memories. Finally, the findings suggested that recovered memories of neutral or positive childhood events were more likely to be rated as having been forgotten while negative events were more likely to be rated as having been repressed, dissociated, suppressed or habitual avoided. The implications of these findings for research and clinical practice in this area are discussed.Item Development of intrasensory and intersensory integration in seven and nine year olds: role of spatial-temporal organization and memory requirements(Texas Tech University, 1980-08) Goggin, Eileen BrockmanIntersensory integration refers to an organism's ability to coordinate sensory information coming in from different modalities, permitting more flexible, adaptive behavior in a complex environment. It has been suggested that this capacity has a developmental component in man, and is functionally related to the emergence of increasingly complex, adaptive behaviors in the growing child. Using what has come to be called the cross-modal (C-M) pattern matching task, many studies demonstrated that auditory-visual (A-V) integrative ability is a sensitive indicator of human dysfunction in a wide variety of "at risk" populations (e.g., reading disabled, brain injured). The A-V integrative ability also showed age-related improvement. However, other studies questioned these results on both conceptual and methodological grounds. The present research emerged as an attempt to follow up on the more salient issues raised in these criticisms. The C-M task was examined in the context of the child's age, gender and specific task requirements such as memory and form of processing information (i.e., temporal vs. spatial organization of input). Forty subjects, balanced for age and gender, were given four multiple-choice pattern-matching tasks (VS-VS, VT-VS, AT-VS, VTSch-VS) and a memory task (VADS). The data were analyzed using an Age (2) X Gender (2) X Task (4) analysis of variance with repeated measures on the Task variable, Tukey's post hoc mean comparisons and multiple regression analysis. The results indicated that 9-year-olds performed more accurately than did 7-year-olds only on the AT-VS task, and males showed inferior performance compared to females only on the VT-VS task. The greatest percentage of variance in accuracy was accounted for by the shift from a spatial to a temporal standard in a within-modal (W-M) task (VS-VS vs. VT-VS) The shift from a W-M to C-M task also accounted for a substantial percentage of variance in accuracy, but only for 9-year-olds in the analysis by age and males in the analysis by gender (VT-VS vs. AT-VS). The AT-VS task was easier than the VT-VS task in these comparisons. Performance on the chunking task was not different from VS-VS performance, but was superior to VT-VS and AT-VS performance. A moderate relationship exists between memory (VADS) and AT-VS for the total sample, 9-year-olds and females. Conceptual modifications are needed for intersensory integration to remain a useful theoretical construct in developmental psychology. It is concluded that behaviors requiring participation of more than one sense modality do require some additional explanatory mechanism beyond the developmental level within each separate modality. However, that additional mechanism cannot be a simplistic unitary process, but rather a complex constellation of mechanisms that vary according to age, gender and specific task requirements made on the organism. Improvements in auditory-visual integration do occur from ages 7 to 9, which cannot be explained solely on the basis of development in visual perception. There are no gender differences in performance accuracy on the auditory-visual task. There is, however, a suggestion of qualitative gender differences whereby females go about solving this task with a greater reliance on memory skills. The form of organization of stimulus input is an integral, inseparable part of the act of perceiving through any given modality. The fact that auditory information is temporally organized and visual information is spatial does not detract from the concept of auditory-visual integration. It is part of the complexity which must be incorporated into any meaningful notion of any kind of sensory integration (inter- or intra-).Item The relationships between working memory, language, and phonological processing: evidence from cross-language transfer in bilinguals(2006) Gorman, Brenda Kaye, 1972-; Gillam, Ronald B. (Ronald Bradley), 1955-Item Sequencing ability as related to nonverbal language ability(Texas Tech University, 1969-05) Eastham, Penelope Johnsen.Item The effects of mnemonic instruction for Hispanic and non-Hispanic elementary school children: a comparison study(Texas Tech University, 1996-05) Adams, Aida MedinaContent material requires the integration of new material into an existing knowledge base as well as filtration through a cultural knowledge base. Mnemonics facilitate comprehension and recall by connecting new information to the learners already established schema. This study examined the effects of a memory technique, elaborative interrogation, on 41 Hispanic and 42 Anglo-American fifth-grade students. This memory technique does not accentuate an intricate use of language or literacy. Instead, the students utilize their reasoning styles and dispositions to produce a greater understanding of presented topics. One primarily Hispanic and one primarily Anglo-American classrooms experienced the elaborative interrogation condition (treatment condition), while a second Hispanic and Anglo-American classroom experienced the reading-to-learn condition (control condition). A fifteen multiple-choice test was administered immediately following the presentation of the facts and were administered again one week later. Participants in the treatment condition decreased an average of 16.32 points from one week to the next, whereas those in the control condition decreased and average of 22.47 points. Descriptive statistics suggest that, generally, the Anglo-American participants decreased approximately 2.45 points more than the Hispanic participants for the experimental condition, while the Hispanic participants declined approximately 10.89 points more than the Anglo-American participants for the control condition. A three-way analysis of covariance revealed significant F values for treatment conditions, ethnicity, and for the treatment by ethnicity interaction. These findings suggest that the use of elaborative interrogation may improve students' recall, when compared to the reading-to learn technique. Hispanic students may find greater benefits since it regards their own cultural backgrounds as a key component.