Effects of visual and verbal cues in facilitating the remembering of an autobiographical event in preschoolers

Abstract

ABSTRACTAlthough small children have autobiographical memories, as they grow, they forget its specific details. Although this forgetting is common in early childhood, the presence of effective cues may help recall autobiographical memories. This study examines the effect of verbal and visual cues on the long-term maintenance of a school trip autobiographical memories. One hundred children aged between 50 and 74 months were divided into three experimental groups: one verbal, one visual, and one control groups. The results show that, compared to the control group, both verbal and visual cues enhanced children’s autobiographical memory of the school trip in the short term. These results are in line with those of other studies showing that over time children require reminder cues in order to accurately recall autobiographical memories, and that the benefit seems to be greater if the reminder cue is visual.