Texas Tech University

Yoojin Chae, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Human Development and Family Sciences

Email: yoojin.chae@ttu.edu

Phone: (806) 834-3024

Office: HS 309

Currently accepting graduate students for Fall 2024

Yoojin Chae

Research Focus

My research focuses on children's memory and abilities as witnesses. In particular, I have been devoted to a wide range of research on children's eyewitness memory and suggestibility, trauma and memory, attachment and memory, language and memory, forensic interview techniques, and adults' evaluations of children's autobiographical memory. For instance, I have examined event memory and suggestibility of maltreated children in relation to trauma-related psychopathology (e.g., dissociation, PTSD, depression). I have also conducted a series of studies to explore the link between attachment and memory for distressing events, and have recently expanded my work to the study of children's visual attention during encoding as a possible mediator of the attachment-memory relation. In addition, I have studied the effects of different interviewing techniques and narrative skill on low-SES children's eyewitness memory. I have further investigated adults' ability to detect children's true and false memory reports which has notable implications for the legal system.

Child Development Lab

Areas of Expertise

  • Autobiographical memory development
  • Children's eyewitness memory and suggestibility
  • Attachment and memory for distressing experiences
  • Child maltreatment and developmental psychopathology
  • Forensic interview techniques

Selected Publications

Chae, Y., Hartman, D., & Goodman, G. S. (in press). What children remember after talking with parents: Implications for children's memory and testimony. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition.

Gonzalves, L. C., Chae, Y., Wang, Y., Widaman, K. F., Bederian-Gardner, D.,Goodman-Wilson, M., Thompson, R. A., Shaver, P. R., & Goodman, G. S. (in press). Children's memory and suggestibility years later: Age, distress, and attachment. Applied Cognitive Psychology.   

Chae, Y., Goodman, G. S., Wang, Y., Goodman, M., McWilliams, K., Shaver, P. R., Thompson, R. A., & Widaman, K. F. (2021). Parents' attachment orientation, interviewers' support, and children's memory for a mildly distressing event. Memory, 29, 1384-1395.

Lawson, M., Chae, Y., Noriega, I., & Valentino, K. (2021). Parent-child attachment security is associated with preschoolers' memory accuracy for emotional life events through sensitive parental reminiscing. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. 209, 105168.

Chae, Y., Goodman, M., Goodman, G. S., Troxel, N., McWilliams, K., Thompson, R. A., Shaver, P. R. & Widaman, K. F. (2018). How children remember the Strange Situation: The role of attachment. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 166, 360-379. 

Chae, Y., Kulkofsky, S., Debaran, F. B., Wang, Q., & Hart, S. L. (2016). Low-SES preschool children's eyewitness memory: The role of narrative skill. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 34, 55-73.

Chae, Y., Goodman, G. S., Larson, R. P., Augusti, E.-M., Alley, D., VanMeenen, K. M., Culver, M., & Coulter, K. P. (2014). Children's memory and suggestibility about a distressing event: The role of children's and parents' attachment. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 123, 90-111.

Chae, Y., Kulkofsky, S., Debaran, F. B., Wang, Q., & Hart, S. L. (2014). Low-SES children's eyewitness memory: The effects of verbal labels and vocabulary skills. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 32, 732-745.

Chae, Y., Goodman, G. S., Eisen, M., & Qin, J. (2011). Event memory and suggestibility in abused and neglected children: Trauma-related psychopathology and cognitive functioning. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 110, 520-538.

Chae, Y., Goodman, G. S., Bederian-Gardner, D., & Lindsay, A. (2011). Methodological issues and practical strategies in research on child maltreatment victims' abilities and experiences as witnesses. Child Abuse & Neglect, 35, 240-248.

Chae, Y., Goodman, G. S., & Edelstein, R. S. (2011). Autobiographical memory development from an attachment perspective: The special role of negative events. In J. B. Benson (Ed.), Advances in Child Development and Behavior. Vol. 40 (pp. 1-49). Burlington: Academic Press.

Chae, Y. (2010). Application of laboratory research on eyewitness testimony. Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, 10, 252-261.

Chae, Y., Ogle, C. M., & Goodman, G. S. (2009). Remembering negative childhood experiences: An attachment theory perspective. In J. A. Quas & R. Fivush (Eds.), Emotion and memory in development: Biological, cognitive, and social considerations (pp. 3-27). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Chae, Y., & Ceci, S. J. (2005). Individual differences in children's recall and suggestibility: The effect of intelligence, temperament, and self-perceptions. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 19, 383-407.

Links

Research Website

Child Development Lab

Research Gate Profile

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yoojin_Chae

Meet Assistant Professor Yoojin Chae, Ph.D.