Long-term survival of children's false memories: A review

Abstract

We present a theory-based review of research on the persistence of children's false memories over extended time intervals. Fuzzy-trace theory predicts that the long-term persistence of memory reports, whether true or false, will depend on whether initial reports were supported by verbatim or gist memories. In studies of children's spontaneous false-memory reports, both true and false reports have displayed long-term persistence, with false reports exhibiting persistence levels that were equal to or greater than those for true reports under theoretically specified conditions (which challenges the familiar forensic rule that persistence over time is an index of a report's truth). In studies of children's implanted false reports, both true and false reports have again displayed long term persistence, but persistence levels for true reports have usually been higher than those for false reports.