Distinctiveness and Emotion in Early Memory Development

Abstract

This chapter outlines the impact of stress and trauma on memory and its development. It begins by reviewing the relevant neural substrates related to the impact of stress and trauma on memory processing. It then reviews the literature on children's true memory for emotional information, both as it has been studied in relatively controlled situations (e.g., laboratory experiments) as well as in more naturalistic settings (e.g., medical experiences, hurricanes). Evidence indicates that children's memory for traumatic events, like their memory for more mundane experiences, is reasonably good for the core or central details, even though such recollections are reconstructive in nature. When recollections of traumatic memories are contrasted with nontraumatic memories in the same individuals, there is some evidence that traumatic events may be retained for relatively long periods of time (e.g., six years or more), but so, too, are non-traumatic events, especially if they are positive experiences (e.g., holidays, parties).