Putting the horse before the cart: The use of temporal order in recall of events by one-year-old children.

Abstract

Previous research has shown that 16- and 20-month-old children recall action sequences depicting familiar, script-based events, and also novel event sequences, in the correct temporal order. In 2 experiments, elicited imitation was used to assess 11.5- and 13.5-month-olds' immediate recall of familiar and novel event sequences. In Experiment 1,13.5-month-olds were tesfed on 2-act and 3-act sequences depicting both familiar and novel events. They reliably recalled the event sequences in the correct temporal order. In Experiment 2, the results were extended to 11.5-month-olds: They accurately recalled 2-act sequences depicting familiar and novel events. The results demonstrate that by late in the 1st year of life, children are able to accurately remember (a) specific sequences depicting familiar events and (b) novel event sequences. In contrast to traditional conceptualizations of preschoolers as unable to represent information in other than a piecemeal fashion (e.g., Fraisse, 1963; Piaget, 1926,1969), more recent research has shown that even young children recall both stories and personally experienced events in an organized manner similar to that of older children and adults (Mandler, 1978; Nelson, 1986). Like adults, in response to questions about what happens in the course of everyday events and routines, children as young as 3 recount events in their usual or canonical order (Nelson & Gruendel, 1981,1986). Although familiarity with events facilitates ordered recall (e.g, Fivush & Mandler, 1985), repeated experience is not necessary for recall to be temporally ordered. Three- to 7-year-olds provide well-ordered accounts of events after only a single experience of them (Hudson, 1986; B. S. Smith, Ratner, & Hobart, 1987). Furthermore, like older children and adults, preschoolers are sensitive to the structure of to-be-remembered material: They recall aspects of events with