TRUE AND FALSE MEMORIES IN CHILDREN AND ADULTS: A Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective

The authors consider evidence concerning accuracy and distortion in children's recollections within the broader context of recent research on memory that has used the methods and conceptual framework of cognitive neuroscience. They focus on 3 phenomena—source amnesia, confabulation, and false recognition—that have been observed in young children and in adults who have sustained damage to the frontal lobes. Similarities and differences between the memory performance of young children and frontal lobe patients are noted, and evidence concerning frontal lobe maturation and cognitive development is examined. The literature provides suggestive but not conclusive support for the hypothesis that some aspects of memory development and cognitive development are associated with immature frontal functioning. The authors conclude by considering several cognitive and temperamental factors that may be related to suggestibility and memory distortion in young children.