Memory and Development Lab - University of Kansas

ental and physical well-being from over 500 college students. About one third of the participants self report histories of trauma or abuse. We are interested in how emerging adults recollect traumatic and other significant life experiences in response to five different types of memory prompts (most traumatic, low point, transgression, turning point, and self defining) and how the qualities of their recollections- both self reported and more objectively measured- relate to their psychological adjustment. Role of Parent-Guided Conversations in Children’s Reactions to a Stressful Event
-- Shengkai Sun is leading an investigation that examines the roles of parent-guided conversations in (1) shaping 4- to 7-year-old children’s memories of a negative event, and (2) influencing children’s stress responses to the event over time. Children first view a mildly distressing film with a research assistant. The parent is later asked to talk with the child about the video under either emotion-focused instructions (make sure your child feels ok) or fact-focused instructions (find out what happened). We are looking at how these instructions influence the conversations, and how the conversations, in turn, influence children's independent recollections of the video as well as their distress reactions over time. Child and mother-child memories and interpretations of a devastating tornado: Implications for child well being
--Erin Hambrick is leading a study that focuses on victims of the tornado that devastated Joplin, MO in May 2011. Pre-adolescent children are asked to recollect the tornado alone, and then jointly with a parent. She is looking at how different ways of remembering the tornado-both with and without the parent-relate to children's psychological adjustment over time. This webpage has more information: http://www.projectshare-joplin.org/

Life Scripts and Life Stories in Emerging Adults with and without Trauma Histories
--Max Clarkson is leading a study looking at college students' "scripts" for what a typical life is like, and the links to their own personal life stories. He is especially interested in whether life scripts differ for people with a history of traumatic experiences as compared to those with a more typical range of life experiences. He is also looking at whether having a large discrepancy between one's own life story and the life script is a risk factor for poor psychological adjustment.