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We demonstrated the efficacy of using early memory (EM) data to distinguish postdictively criminally dangerous from nondangerous psychiatric patients. Dangerous patients (n = 30) had been adjudicated not criminally responsible (NCR) for felonies, whereas nondangerous psychiatric patients (n = 30) had no convictions for aggressive offenses. Groups were comparable in age, IQ, socioeconomic status (SES), marital status, and diagnoses. Group racial compositions, however, were significantly different. Statistical analyses were thus performed to clarify the potential effect of this racial confound. Overall, 73% of the dangerous and nondangerous patients were accurately classified via a newly developed EM scoring system, the Early Memory Aggressiveness Potential Score System (EMAPSS). Of those classified as dangerous, 15 of 16 (94%) were actually dangerous. The false-positive rate was an impressively low 6%, suggesting EM aggression is highly predictive of dangerousness postdictively.

In Part 1 of this paper, topics germane to the projective assessment of autobiographical memory were discussed. In Part 2, the cognitive-perceptual method will be used to interpret several early memories and a slightly abridged Early Memories Procedure (EMP).

This article introduces the Early Memories Procedure (EMP), the first projective test of autobiographical memory. The EMP requires minimal one-on-one professional time, because it is a self-administered pencil-and-paper test. Part 1 of the EMP includes five spontaneous early childhood memories (EMs) and one particularly clear or important memory (lifetime); Part 2 contains 15 directed memories, including both EMs and more recent memories. The procedure is intended to be used after intake by new clients, because it provides the clinician with an opportunity to explore client problem areas with a minimum of face-to-face time. The experiential aspect of the procedure helps to reduce the initial anxiety and confusion experienced by novice therapy clients by providing a lesson regarding what some of the more important aspects of therapy are about: understanding the self and its needs, taking responsibility, and making changes consistent with one's needs and goals. Due to its length, the article is divided in half, and each half is published separately. Part 1 introduces the EMP and provides a rationale for its use. Part 2 illustrates how EMs can be interpreted with the cognitive-perceptual model and presents a full EMP protocol and interpretation.

Most clinicians know little about the operation of autobiographical memory. Yet as assessment people, clinicians are frequently called upon to make important decisions about the individuals they evaluate. It is not surprising that clinicians are ignorant regarding many aspects of autobiographical memory because most have not been trained to understand how autobiographical memory functions. This article focuses on a vital domain of autobiographical memories--early memories--and discusses from a clinical perspective the purpose, function, and organization of autobiographical memory as seen by cognitive-perceptual theory.

A previous study of early childhood memories (EMs) with a sample of 15 delinquents and 18 nondelinquent controls successfully identified 80% of the delinquents and 100% of the nondelinquents. Our study used 71 delinquents and 71 nondelinquent controls matched for age, whereas gender (male) and geographical area were held constant. Socioeconomic status (SES) was restricted to middle class and above. Several refinements were also made to the previous EM scoring system to make it more useful to clinicians, and four EMs were elicited rather than two in the prior study. Predictive results with a discriminant analysis were consistent with those from the previous study and were highly significant--81.7% were correctly classified as delinquents and 95.8% as nondelinquents. The study effectively validates the use of the EM scoring system for this population. The results are discussed from the standpoint of the Cognitive-Perceptual approach to EMs and current models of delinquency.

The study found that nonbraindamaged college subjects could not simulate organicity on the Bender-Gestalt test when instructed to do so. Although Pascal-Suttell and Canter scoring methods failed to differentiate malingerers from an organic criterion group, an ABPP clinician sorted 89% of the records correctly in a pilot study. Differentiating criteria were then spelled out from the pilot study protocols. In the main study the expert clinician correctly identified all 20 malingerers. Subsequent studies of intra- and inter-rater reliability produced satisfactory results.

The earliest recollections of Dwight David Eisenhower, supreme military commander of allied forces during World War II and 34th president of the United States, are analyzed to provide a deeper understanding of the man and his motives. The analysis emphasizes a cognitive/perceptual method of early memory interpretation presented by Bruhn and Last (1982) in a theoretical paper.

The study was designed to test whether data from the earliest childhood memory (EM) could predict a Rotter internal vs external locus of control stance. Main Study subjects were 215 undergraduates from introductory psychology classes. Those EMs which could be reliably scored and coded for control stance--153 of the 215 Main Study protocols--were examined for success at predicting Rotter control stance. A total of 127 of 153 control predictions were correct, which yielded a Chi Square of 67.51, p < .0005 for a 2 x 2 table. Further, all 5 EM content hypotheses, which were based on groupings of the 54 Pilot Study codes, yielded results significant at p < .05. These results were discussed as supporting the validity of EMs to predict control stance and as contributing to an understanding of the dynamic basis for and maintenance of a belief in internal vs external control.

This paper will present the cognitive-perceptual method of interpreting early memories together with the first published sequence interpretation of a set of early memories using this method. The latter is especially apt to present in this issue, considering Walter Ktopfer's stress on sequence interpretation of the Rorschach. Attention is also directed to the formation of a cross-disciplinary group that will investigate autobiographical memory in general and early memories in particular.

While Adlerians have long advocated the use of the earliest childhood memory (EM) for adult assessments, they have discouraged the use of children's EMs for the same purpose. The present writer argues that children's EMs merit further research. In support of this position, the research literature is discussed, a clinical case study is presented, and the results from a small pilot study of clinical cases is summarized.

Invalid assumptions in the methodologies of recent early memory studies were noted and discussed. The writers offered several principles that may help future workers to avoid design flaws which may have weakened previous studies. The need for pilot studies appropriate to the population under study was particularly stressed.

The present study attempts to correct design weaknesses in earlier studies which assessed the use of early memories (EMs) in identifying psychopathology in children. A new EM scoring system, the CEMSS, was developed to provide an objective, comprehensive analysis of the reported EMs. Subjects were 64 boys, SES IV and V, 8 through 12 years old from four diagnostic groups--Delinquent, Hyperactive, Somatic Complaints, and Schizoid. Overall, the CEMSS provided an effective means to distinguish the diagnostic groups, p less than or equal to .01. The results suggest that content variables best distinguished the type of presenting psychopathology, whereas an earlier study found that structural EM variables most reliably identified the degree of psychopathology.

Examined the early memories of 94 boys, aged 8 through 11, with varying levels of psychopathology. Via a newly developed early memory scoring system, subjects were classified according to degree of presenting psychopathology at a highly significant level. The scoring system classifications were also more accurate than those made by experienced clinicians. The importance of scoring system structural variables in making adjustment/maladjustment decisions was emphasized.

Data from the first two childhood memories was used to distinguish 15 delinquents from 18 nondelinquent controls. Subjects were male, middle class, 15-17 years of age, and equated for verbal IQ. All delinquents were property offenders. A coding system, devised from the memories of the delinquents and nondelinquents, successfully identified 80% of the delinquents and 100% of the nondelinquents. These prediction rates exceeded those from three clinicians experienced in working with a comparable delinquent population. The coding system was then discussed in terms of the axioms and presuppositions which are suggested by the memories of the delinquent sample.