No description available.

<p>In the face of declines in memory related to specific events, people maintain intact general knowledge into very old age. Older adults often use this knowledge to support their remembering. Semantic illusions involve situations in which presented information contradicts correct knowledge; the illusion occurs when people fail to notice a contradiction with what they know. Compared to younger adults, older adults' later memories are surprisingly less affected by semantic illusions. That is, they use fewer errors seen in the semantic illusions as answers when later asked related general knowledge questions. Why do older adults show this reduced suggestibility, and what role does their intact knowledge play? In 5 experiments, I explored these questions. Older adults' reduced suggestibility was not due to an age difference in error detection: older adults were no better than younger adults at detecting the errors that contradicted their stored knowledge. In addition, episodic memory failures were not a major factor either; the evidence for their direct involvement was mixed. Instead, prior knowledge seems to have been particularly protective for older adults. They demonstrated more knowledge to begin with but also gained access to even more of their stored knowledge across the duration of experiments, leading them to be less suggestible following semantic illusions. There was also an indication that when knowledge was stably accessible, older adults had a tendency to rely on it more than did younger adults. Broadly, these findings indicate that older adults' intact prior knowledge provides important benefits to their remembering and can even protect them against acquiring erroneous information about the world.</p> / Dissertation

The phenomenon of not relying solely up on one's own judgment and of distorting one's perception toward a perceived social norm has been observed to take place with a rather large percentage of subjects participating in a number of research projects. Both Asch and Sherif have done extensive work showing this distortion of perception when an individual is placed in a group setting and finds himself in a contradictory position between his own perception and that of the other group members. The question arises as to whether or not acceptance of suggestion is a personality trait characteristic of the individual. To what extent, if any, will the trait of suggestibility manifest in one situation transfer to a second setting when suggestion is applied? Specifically, in this research project, individuals will be chosen according to their reactions to a placebo pill experiment. Placebo reactors will be those individuals who have manifest the internalization of suggestion in the experiment. Non-reactors will be chosen for their lack of placebo pill reaction which will be considered as rejection of the applied suggestion. Both the placebo reactors and non-reactors will be placed in an unstable experimental situation that has the possibilities of being structured according to the individual's perception or perceived social norm. Since the autokinetic illusion is almost universal, this phenomenon will be employed in the experimental procedure. Suggestion as to the amount of movement present in the autokinetic effect will then be given. The amount of movement will be recorded and tested for significance for the reactor and non-reactor groups.

<p>Denna uppsats belyser empati ur ett troligen helt nytt perspektiv genom att likna empatiprocessen vid den suggestibla som ”den andres” förmedlande av stimu¬lus, vilket av målpersonen mottages, processas och därefter ofta resulterar i en, hos målpersonen, genuint upplevd känsla eller uppfattning. I uppsatsen förslås vidare att empati och suggestibilitet skiljer sig ifrån övrig form av var¬seblivning genom det radikala internaliserandet av stimulus som de ofta ska¬par hos målpersonen. Studiens syfte var att, baserat på detta förslag, utreda om det finns ett samband mellan empati och suggesti¬bilitet. En studie utförd med 42 per¬soner påvisade en tendens till samband mellan suggestibilitet och empati samt att kvinnor var signifikant mer suggestibla än män. Framtida forskning bör fortsatt testa om suggestibilitet kan förklara empati.</p>

Denna uppsats belyser empati ur ett troligen helt nytt perspektiv genom att likna empatiprocessen vid den suggestibla som ”den andres” förmedlande av stimu¬lus, vilket av målpersonen mottages, processas och därefter ofta resulterar i en, hos målpersonen, genuint upplevd känsla eller uppfattning. I uppsatsen förslås vidare att empati och suggestibilitet skiljer sig ifrån övrig form av var¬seblivning genom det radikala internaliserandet av stimulus som de ofta ska¬par hos målpersonen. Studiens syfte var att, baserat på detta förslag, utreda om det finns ett samband mellan empati och suggesti¬bilitet. En studie utförd med 42 per¬soner påvisade en tendens till samband mellan suggestibilitet och empati samt att kvinnor var signifikant mer suggestibla än män. Framtida forskning bör fortsatt testa om suggestibilitet kan förklara empati.

No description available.

The present thesis deals with the psychological aspects of interrogative suggestibility of witnesses, victims and offenders involved in criminal investigation. The first part of the work offers a theoretical and literary overview of important theoretical findings on suggestibility in the field of psychology which underly the teoretici model of interrogative suggestibility by Gudjonsson and Clark. Their model is introduced in relation to selected psychological characteristics with an emphasis on practical overlap in forensic psychology and criminal practice. The theoretical part is concluded with a detailed introduction into the Gudjonsson scales of suggestibility - GSS 1 and GSS 2. In the empirical part of the thesis, the author focuses on adaptation and validation of GSS 1 in the Czech environment. The outcome of this work are the psychometric characteristics of the Czech version of the GSS 1, including detailed instruction for administration and evaluation and statistical norms for the czech population. Currently Czech criminalist dispose of no suitable psychodiagnostic assessment method to evaluate the interrogative suggestibility. Key words: interrogative suggestibility, GSS 1, Gudjonsson, psychodiagnostics

This study explored external and internal factors and their effect on childrens memory of a naturalistic, potentially stressful event, namely, a dental procedure. Specifically, question format (yes/no questions versus multiple choice questions) and temporal delay (short delay versus long delay) were the external factors examined, while anxiety, temperament, distress level, working memory and previous experience were the internal factors examined. Children (N=68) aged 4-12 years and their parents participated. Prior to the procedure, children provided ratings of their current anxiety on an anxiety rating scale. Following the procedure, children provided pain ratings and were given 24 forced choice questions regarding the dental event. Parents responded to questions regarding their childs previous dental experiences and temperament via a questionnaire. The findings suggest that: (a) multiple-choice questions are more problematic than yes/no questions, (b) that younger children are more suggestible than older children, especially when asked no and absent feature questions; (c) children who report more pain and anxiety, and whose parents describe them as less sociable, evidence higher rates of suggestibility; and (d) after a two month delay, on average, children accurately recalled their pain for the dental event, however, higher trait anxiety scores were associated with higher recollection of experienced pain. The findings are discussed with respect to implications for interviewing children and for management of pain in clinical settings.

This study explored external and internal factors and their effect on childrens memory of a naturalistic, potentially stressful event, namely, a dental procedure. Specifically, question format (yes/no questions versus multiple choice questions) and temporal delay (short delay versus long delay) were the external factors examined, while anxiety, temperament, distress level, working memory and previous experience were the internal factors examined. Children (N=68) aged 4-12 years and their parents participated. Prior to the procedure, children provided ratings of their current anxiety on an anxiety rating scale. Following the procedure, children provided pain ratings and were given 24 forced choice questions regarding the dental event. Parents responded to questions regarding their childs previous dental experiences and temperament via a questionnaire. The findings suggest that: (a) multiple-choice questions are more problematic than yes/no questions, (b) that younger children are more suggestible than older children, especially when asked no and absent feature questions; (c) children who report more pain and anxiety, and whose parents describe them as less sociable, evidence higher rates of suggestibility; and (d) after a two month delay, on average, children accurately recalled their pain for the dental event, however, higher trait anxiety scores were associated with higher recollection of experienced pain. The findings are discussed with respect to implications for interviewing children and for management of pain in clinical settings.

Interrogative suggestibility refers to the extent to which an individual internally accepts messages communicated during a formal questioning situation, as indicated by an external response. Research indicates low intelligence, poor memory and weak inhibitory control is associated with heightened suggestibility. Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) may also display deficits in these key areas, indicating a potential vulnerability to suggestion. The present study compared levels of suggestibility among alcohol exposed and typical children. The findings indicate that children with FASD may be at heightened risk to suggestion following negative feedback or pressure. In addition, a large amount of the suggested material was elicited and internalized as truth by all children, dependent on question format. These findings have important consequences for future interrogative interactions with children with and without FASD, to ensure information is not presented and thus elicited in a suggestive manner. / Graduate