Memory for medical emergencies experienced by 1- and 2-year-olds.

Abstract

Children (13-18 months, 20-25 months, and 26-34 months) who had experienced trauma injuries were recruited in a hospital Emergency Room and subsequently interviewed about them within days (if verbal) and after 6, 12, and 18 or 24 months. The youngest children demonstrated little long-term verbal recall, whereas a few children in the intermediate group, who could not narrate about past events at time of injury, could verbally recall the target events 18 months later. Most of the oldest children, who had narrative skills at time of injury, demonstrated good verbal recall 2 years later. Illustrative case histories were described. Accuracy of recall was low for the youngest children, and although the majority of older children's recalled information was accurate, there were still many errors.