Previous research on the phenomenon known as “False Memory” has shown that there is a direct relationship between false memory formation and emotional response. Conclusions on the whole were derived from results of experiments that evaluated false memory prompted solely by stimuli that represented positive and negative emotions. Research for this thesis sought to further the discussion through the use of experiments that targeted, more specifically, the five basic emotions described by Power & Dalgleish (2008) as: happiness, fear, anger, disgust, and sadness. Additionally, this research tested the effects of, and/or relationships between, false memory and the basic emotions of the members of the study, to include depressed, dysphoric, and control-group individuals. In a departure from earlier studies, these experiments assessed the effects on groups across cultures-- namely Syrian and British--as well as across time. There were 204 participants in three studies, and they were divided into two groups according to their scores on the BDI II: dysphoric and non-dysphoric. There were two samples representing two different societies: Syrian and British. Additionally, in the fourth experiment, there were 41 clinically depressed patients and 20 in the control group. Four studies were conducted in which participants viewed a series of both emotional and non-emotional pictures taken from the IAPS. Participants were asked to answer a series of questions. There were two questions for each picture; one of the questions was based on actual content within the various pictures while the other was designed to elicit a confabulated response by suggesting content that was not actually present. The participants returned to the lab one week later and were asked the same questions again. The findings show that accuracy of memory is diminished, and quality of memory is impaired, in both immediate and delayed recall conditions when leading questions were used to elicit responses--the questions that suggested content not in evidence. Participants produced more false memories to the emotional pictures than they did to the non-emotional pictures, with the exception of disgust-related pictures for which they produced significantly fewer false memories. False memory manifested to a greater degree in the delayed recall condition than it did in the immediate recall condition. Cultural factors proved to have no influence on false memory formation. Correct memories from dysphoric/depressed participants were less than correct memories from their non-dysphoric/depressed counterparts. There was a significant relationship between correct memories and emotional content of the pictures. Correct memories decreased across time. The implications of the research are examined for the relationship between emotion and false memory.

Barn som utsätts för brott finner svårigheter med att berätta om vad deblivit utsatta för. På grund av detta är det av vikt att förhörsledaretillämpar förhörsmetoder som enligt tidigare forskning leder till att barnvågar berätta om vad de blivit utsatta för. Syftet med denna studie varatt undersöka vilka förhörsmetoder som används vid förhör med utsattabarn samt vilka metoder som genererar mest svar i form av svarsord.Studien har utgjorts av mixed methods där förundersökningsprotokolloch intervjuer med barnförhörsledare har analyserats. Analysen fann attöppna frågor och expanderande parafrasering genererar mest svarsord,medan öppna frågor och ledande frågor var de metoderna somtillämpades oftast. Förhörsledarna uttrycker i intervjuer att ledandefrågor är förödande och att de inte används i barnförhör, medan deeftersträvar att använda öppna frågor då dessa genererar längst svar frånbarnen. Resultaten diskuteras och likheter och skillnader tas upp. / Abused children have difficulties disclosing the crimes they have beenexposed to. With this in regards, it is important that interrogators useinterrogation methods that, according to previous research, leads tochildren telling about the abuse. The aim of this study was to explorewhich interrogation methods are used in interrogations with abusedchildren and which methods generate the most answers in the form ofamount of words. The study consisted of mixed methods wherepreliminary investigation reports and interviews with childinterrogation leaders were analyzed. The analysis found that openendedquestions and expanding paraphrasing generated the mostanswers in amount of words, while open-ended questions and leadingquestions were the methods that were most commonly used. Theinterrogators expressed in interviews that leading questions wereconsidered to be devastating and that they were not used ininterrogations with children, meanwhile they strived to use open-endedquestions since these types of questions generate the most answers fromthe children. The findings are discussed and similarities and differencesare addressed.

This study focuses on the development, implementation and evaluation of a research-based legally defensible forensic interview protocol for social workers in South Africa in order to improve the social worker's knowledge, understanding and skills regarding forensic assessment interviews in the field of child sexual abuse. The motivation for the study has its origin in the fact that current legislation in South Africa requires that all cases of alleged sexual abuse have to be reported to either social workers or the South African Police Service. Social workers often find themselves having to deal with allegations of sexual abuse, and are faced with the challenging task of conducting assessment interviews, where the result of such interview will be a determining factor in the final outcome of the legal proceedings. The research problem is that there is currently no national research-based forensic interview protocol for social workers in South Africa. A quantitative research approach was followed. Applied research was used to address immediate problems that are encountered by professionals in practice. Intervention research was used as research methodology. The quasi-experimental design was applied where a comparison of two groups were done. The hypothesis formulated for this study is: If this interview protocol will be applied in cases of alleged sexual abuse against children of the middle childhood, it would facilitate the disclosure in a more legally acceptable and defensible manner. An interview protocol with seven definite phases was developed. A self-developed checklist consisting of 119 fundamentals compiled from comprehensive literature study, consultations with experts and extensive experience of the researcher, was used as a measuring instrument. The researcher applied the newly developed interview protocol with ten girls (experimental group) in the middle childhood who have allegedly been sexually abused. The interviews were audio-recorded and evaluated by means of the self-developed checklist. An independent social worker also interviewed ten allegedly sexually abused children (comparison group) of the same age and gender as the experimental group. This social worker, however, made use of her own interview protocol. She represents the social workers in South Africa. The interviews were also audio-recorded and evaluated by means of the self-developed checklist. An independent professional person coded a sample of 50% of all interviews. All data were submitted to the Department Statistics of University of Pretoria who has done the statistical analysis. In chapter two the phenomenon of child sexual abuse is discussed and aspects that interviewers need to take in consideration were highlighted. In chapter three all aspects of child development are discussed. Developmental issues which need to be accommodated during forensic interviews are explored. Chapter four focuses on interview techniques in the forensic context, and international guidelines on forensic interviews were explored. This information was used to develop the proposed forensic interview protocol. In chapter five the proposed seven-phase forensic interview protocol was discussed. In chapter six all the data that was collected was quantified, analysed and interpreted with the assistance of the Department of Statistics of the University of Pretoria. The statistical analysis showed that in five of the seven phases a statistically significant difference was found between the experimental and comparison groups. The results suggest that the seven-phase forensic interview protocol was successfully implemented, and could be considered a new development and thus a contribution to the social work profession. However further research with a larger sample of children is needed. Conclusions and recommendations (chapter 7) of this study are put forward in accordance with the process that was followed in developing and implementing the interview protocol which would assist social workers when dealing with alleged victims of child sexual abuse. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted