Stress, Trauma, and Children's Memory Development: Neurobiological, Cognitive, Clinical, and Legal Perspectives

Few questions in psychology have generated as much debate as those concerning the impact of childhood trauma on memory. A lack of scientific research to constrain theory has helped fuel arguments about whether childhood trauma leads to deficits that result in conditions such as false memory or lost memory, and whether neurohormonal changes that are correlated with childhood trauma can be associated with changes in memory. Scientists have also struggled with more theoretical concerns, such as how to conceptualize and measure distress and other negative emotions in terms of, for example, discrete emotions, physiological response, and observer ratings. To answer these questions, Mark L. Howe, Gail Goodman, and Dante Cicchetti have brought together the most current and innovative neurobiological, cognitive, clinical, and legal research on stress and memory development. This research examines the effects of early stressful and traumatic experiences on the development of memory in childhood, and elucidates how early trauma is related to other measures of cognitive and clinical functioning in childhood. It also goes beyond childhood to both explore the long-term impact of stressful and traumatic experiences on the entire course of "normal" memory development, and determine the longevity of trauma memories that are formed early in life. Stress, Trauma, and Children's Memory Development will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in early experience, childhood trauma, and memory research.

Mark L. Howe is a Professor of Psychology and a Research Chair in Developmental Psychology at Lancaster University, Lancaster UK. Dr. Howe is also Co-director of the Centre for Research in Human Development at Lancaster University. His research concerns children's memory development including children's false memories, autobiographical memory, and long-term retention of information. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association as well as the Association for Psychological Science.
Gail S. Goodman is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for Public Policy Research at the University of California, Davis, and Professor of Forensic Psychology at the University of Oslo, Norway. Her research concerns children's memory development and forensic developmental psychology. Dr. Goodman has received many awards for her research, including two Distinguished Contributions awards in 2005 from the American Psychological Association (the Distinguished Contributions to Research in Public Policy Award, as well as the Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Research Award). Dr. Goodman obtained her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from UCLA and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Denver and the Universite Rene Descartes in Paris, France.
Dante Cicchetti is McKnight Presidential Chair of Child Psychology in the Institute of Child Development and in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota. He also is Professor of Psychology at the University of Minnesota. From 1985 to 2005, he directed the Mt. Hope Family Center at the University of Rochester. Dr. Cicchetti has published 30 books including volumes on developmental psychopathology, child development, emotional development, Down syndrome, attachment beyond infancy, self development, risk and protective factors in the development of psychopathology, neurodevelopment and psychopathology, and stress and development.