Forensic Memory Detection Tests Less Effective in Older Adults

 

Julia Bazinet 

Mr. Ippolito

Forensics

Current Event  10/21/21 
            For my current event, I chose to read about how Forensic memory tests are not effective on adults. The article claims that “Findings show that concealed information tests relying on the electrical activity of the brain (electroencephalography [EEG]) are ineffective in older adults because of changes to  recognition-related brain activity that occurs with aging.” EEG-based forensic memory detection is based on the belief that given any guilty suspect, they will contain knowledge about the crimes they have committed. So, when confronted, “their brains will elicit a recognition response in the EEG when confronted with reminders of their crimes.”            A study was done, and participants of the study ( 30 participants who were under the age of 30and 30 participants who were over the age of 65) underwent a concealed information test. They were asked if they “recognized details from a mock crime they had just committed.” If any participant recalled any details told to them, that would indicate they were guilty. Yet, something intriguing happened in the study; only young adults showed a strong EEG recognition response to reminders of the crime. Responses were absent from the older group of people participating in the study. This is interesting because the older group of participants had thesame knowledge about the crime as the younger group. Additionally, the younger and older groups had just as good general recognition memory ability.     

This was an impactful finding because the research by Cortex claimed and then went on to announce that EEG-based forensic memory detection tests have limited practical applications with less validity in older adults than younger populations. It is now known that EEG-based forensic memory detection in older age is impaired.        The article I chose was very organized and well written. I like how they described and explained the experiment they did; the way the author wrote it made the study easy to understand. Yet, I wish that the author provided some visuals from the study or any studies like it done in the past. To visually be able to see the difference of EEG recognition response among age groups was something I was looking for. I also wish the author explained what exactly is EEG testing, as well as included some details about it. For example, maybe like how long it has been around, crime cases that it helped solve, or maybe list some famous cases the EEG was sued in.

 However, I enjoyed reading this article and it reminded me that even though technology can be great, it does have its flaws. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/05/210520133724.htm “Forensic Memory Detection Tests Less Effective in Older Adults.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 20 May 2021, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/05/210520133724.htm.