Prologue: Turning Science into Practice

This prologue begins by considering the role of stress and trauma in memories of childhood experiences. It poses two broad questions: does the fact that one has experienced trauma during childhood affect subsequent memory processing? Can children who have been maltreated remember and report those experiences accurately? It argues that children can remember traumatic experiences especially if they occur after the period known as infantile amnesia, and care is taken with the manner in which children attempt to recollect this information. Stress, trauma, and maltreatment also affect the course of normal memory development. An overview of the succeeding chapters is presented.