“Believe the Children”? Childhood Memory, Amnesia, and Its Implications for Law

How reliable are childhood memories? Are small children capable of serving as reliable witnesses in the courtroom? Are memories that adults recall from preschool years accurate? These questions are not only important to basic brain science and to understanding our own autobiographies, but also have important implications for the legal system.

At the final Neuroscience, Ethics, and the News journal club of the 2014 fall semester, Emory psychologist Robyn Fivush led a discussion on memory development, childhood amnesia, and the implications of neuroscience and psychology research for how children form and recall memories.

About the Contributor

Ryan Purcell, PhD

Ryan Purcell is a postdoctoral fellow at Emory University. He previously worked as an assistant managing editor at the American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience.