Helen Paterson, an associate professor in forensic psychology at the University of Sydney, received recognition at the Australian Museum Eureka prizes on Thursday night for her research on how memories of repeated events differ from recollections of single incidents. Her work focuses particularly on the testimony of domestic and family violence survivor-victims.
Paterson’s research demonstrates that individuals who experience repeated traumatic events tend to recall more general details about what typically occurs across episodes rather than specific details of individual incidents. While witnesses to repeated events may occasionally conflate different episodes, the information they report generally reflects events that genuinely happened to them. This distinction carries significant implications for how victim-survivor testimony is evaluated in legal contexts.
Her findings also reveal a concerning pattern: repeated-event witnesses are often perceived as less honest, less cognitively competent, and less credible overall compared to single-event witnesses. Paterson noted that defence strategies frequently exploit apparent inconsistencies in victim testimony to challenge the overall reliability of their accounts. She emphasized that understanding the cognitive basis for these patterns is essential for supporting victim-survivors in legal proceedings and ensuring their accounts receive appropriate credibility.
The Eureka prizes, established in 1990, recognize Australian scientists and science communicators across 19 categories. Other recipients announced Thursday included Jane Tiller of Monash University, who drove legislative changes banning genetic discrimination by life insurers, and Prof Georgina Long, recognized for melanoma research. Additional winners worked on marine heatwaves forecasting, bacterial vaginosis transmission research, and solar panel recycling technology.
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