Abstract
Caregivers can forget young children in the back of the car, thereby resulting in the tragic circumstance of infant death. The current exploratory study examined whether the public (N = 171) believes a memory explanation when the defendant caregiver relationship to the child is varied and when expert witness testimony is and is not provided regarding the processes by which these memory failures can occur. Adult participants believed that a memory failure played a role when the defendant caregiver was the grandfather as opposed to when the caregiver was the father. Expert witness testimony did not impact this belief. Other memory-related variables impacted perceptions of defendant guilt when defendant guilt was measured continuously but not dichotomously. Numerous non-memory related outcome variables were also studied. Defendant relationship and expert witness testimony impacted different memory-related and non-memory related outcome variables. Results are discussed in terms of age-related forgetting and collective vulnerability versus prospective memory failures. Implications regarding the legal system are considered.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Similar Papers
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.