Children's Memory for a Salient Medical Procedure: Implications for Testimony

Objective. Protecting sexually abused children hinges on their ability to remember and report events surrounding alleged incidents of abuse. This study was designed to provide information on young children's memory and recall of stressful experiences. Methodology. Children's memory for features of a voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG) experience were examined because this invasive procedure is similar in many respects to incidents of sexual abuse. The recall performance of 24 3- to 7-year-olds was assessed immediately after the VCUG and after a delay of 6 weeks using a hierarchically structured interview protocol including both open-ended and more specific questions