Development Of Autobiographical Memory Research Articles

Young Children's Memory for the Times of Personal Past Events

Remembering the temporal information associated with personal past events is critical for autobiographical memory, yet we know relatively little about the development of this capacity. In the present research, we investigated temporal memory for naturally occurring personal events in 4-, 6-, and 8-year-old children. Parents recorded unique events in which their children participated during a 4-month period. At test, children made relative recency judgments and estimated the time of each event using conventional time scales (time of day, day of week, month of year, and season). Children also were asked to provide justifications for their time-scale judgments. Six- and 8-year-olds, but not 4-year-olds, accurately judged the order of two distinct events. There were age-related improvements in children's estimation of the time of events using conventional time scales. Older children provided more justifications for their time-scale judgments compared with younger children. Relations between correct responding on the time-scale judgments and provision of meaningful justifications suggest that children may use that information to reconstruct the times associated with past events. The findings can be used to chart a developmental trajectory of performance in temporal memory for personal past events and have implications for our understanding of autobiographical memory development.

“Family Stories” and Their Implications for Preschoolers’ Memories of Personal Events

Most adults experience childhood amnesia: They have very few memories of events prior to 3 to 4 years of age. Nevertheless, some early memories are retained. Multiple factors likely are responsible for the survival of early childhood memories, including external representations such as videos, photographs, and conversations about past experiences, which help sustain memories over time. The present research was an experimental test of whether repeated recounting of past events influences young children's recall during a year delay. Twenty-four mothers and their 4-year-old children talked repeatedly about two randomly selected personal events that were assigned to become family-story events. Mothers were asked not to initiate conversations about two other randomly selected events (control events). A year later, children were interviewed by an experimenter about all four events. In free recall, children retrieved more of the family-story than the control events. With the aid of Wh- questions, levels of retrieval no longer differed. Moreover, the completeness and organization of children's narratives did not depend on whether they were about family-story or control events. The pattern of results suggests that repeated conversations about a past event help to maintain accessibility of the memory but may not substantially impact the integrity of the memory trace itself. The role of family stories in children's social and autobiographical memory development is discussed.

Self-regulatory private speech relates to children's recall and organization of autobiographical memories

Abstract We investigated relations between 4- and 7-year-olds’ ( N = 58) autobiographical memory and their use of self-regulatory private speech in a non-mnemonic context (a cognitive planning task). Children's use of self-regulatory private speech during the planning task was associated with longer autobiographical narratives which included specific rather than general memories and which were recalled with greater narrative cohesion and more evaluative information. Children's use of private speech that served no regulatory function was unrelated to all memory variables. The relations between self-regulatory private speech and autobiographical memory were independent of children's age, general verbal ability, and gender. Our findings are discussed in the context of the social interaction perspective on autobiographical memory development.

The making of autobiographical memory: Intersections of culture, narratives and identity

Autobiographical memory is a uniquely human form of memory that integrates individual experiences of self with cultural frames for understanding identities and lives. In this review, we present a theoretical and empirical overview of the sociocultural development of autobiographical memory, detailing the emergence of autobiographical memory during the preschool years and the formation of a life narrative during adolescence. More specifically, we present evidence that individual differences in parental reminiscing style are related to children's developing autobiographical narratives. Parents who structure more elaborated coherent personal narratives with their young children have children who, by the end of the preschool years, provide more detailed and coherent personal narratives, and show a more differentiated and coherent sense of self. Narrative structuring of autobiographical remembering follows a protracted developmental course through adolescence, as individuals develop social cognitive skills for temporal understanding and causal reasoning that allows autobiographical memories to be integrated into an overarching life narrative that defines emerging identity. In addition, adolescents begin to use culturally available canonical biographical forms, life scripts, and master narratives to construct a life story and inform their own autobiographical narrative identity. This process continues to be socially constructed in local interactions; we present exploratory evidence that parents help adolescents structure life narratives during coconstructed reminiscing and that adolescents use parents and families as a source for their own autobiographical content and structure. Ultimately, we argue that autobiography is a critical developmental skill; narrating our personal past connects us to our selves, our families, our communities, and our cultures.

Emotion and Autobiographical Memory

Self and mind are constituted with the cumulative effects of significant life events. This description is regarded as a given explicitly or implicitly in vari-ous theories of personality. Such an acknowledgment inevitably brings together these theories on two basic concepts. The first one is the emotions that give meaning to experiences and the second one is the memory which is related to the storage of these experiences. The part of the memory which is responsible for the storage and retrieval of life events is the autobiographical memory. Besides the development of personality, emotions and autobiographical memory are important in the development of and maintenance of psychopathology. Therefore, these two concepts have both longitudinal and cross-sectional functions in understanding human beings. In case of psychopathology, understanding emotions and autobiographical memory developmentally, aids in understanding the internal susceptibility factors. In addition, understanding how these two structures work and influence each other in an acute event would help to understand the etiological mechanisms of mental disorders. In the literature, theories that include both of these structures and that have clinical implications, are inconclusive. Theories on memory generally focus on cognitive and semantic structures while neglecting emotions, whereas theories on emotions generally neglect memory and its organization. There are only a few theories that cover both of these two concepts. In the present article, these theories that include both emotions and autobiographical memory in the same framework (i.e. Self Memory System, Associative Network Theory, Structural and Contextual theories and Affect Regulation Theory) were discussed to see the full picture. Taken together, these theories seem to have the potential to suggest data-driven models in understanding and explaining symptoms such as flashbacks, dissociation, amnesia, over general memory seen in post-traumatic stress disorder; and intrusions, ruminations, biases such as negative memory recall and being unable to recall positive memories seen in depression.

Origins of adolescents’ autobiographical memories

Adolescents ( N = 46; M = 12.46 years) who had previously participated in a longitudinal study of autobiographical memory development narrated their early childhood memories, interpreted life events, and completed a family history questionnaire and language assessment. Three distinct components of adolescent memory emerged: (1) age of earliest memory and insight into life events; (2) volume of early memories; and (3) density of specific memories from early childhood. Children's language, self-awareness, and theory of mind during early childhood (19–51 months) all contributed to their memories as adolescents. However, adolescents’ early reminiscing environment was the best single predictor of the age and volume of their early memories and their insight into life events. In contrast, adolescents’ delayed self-recognition and reminiscing in early childhood predicted the density of their early memories. These findings provide partial support for theories of autobiographical memory development.

Number of Siblings in Childhood Explains Cultural Variance in Autobiographical Memory in Cameroon, People’s Republic of China, and Germany

In the present study, the authors set out to investigate whether number of siblings as a contextual ontogenetic factor can explain cultural variance in autobiographical memory (AM). After replicating the commonly found cultural differences in AM in samples from Asia (PR China, N = 77), Africa (Cameroon, N = 68), and Europe (Germany, N = 100), the authors demonstrate that the number of siblings has a substantial effect on AM variables. The cultural variance explained by the number of siblings ranges from 30% in the age of first memory to 99% in specificity and integration. These findings (a) point towards the necessity to include contextual variables in the investigation of cultural differences in AM and (b) highlight the importance of sensitive periods in early childhood for the development of AM.

Teaching & Learning Guide for: Once Upon a Time: Explaining Cultural Differences in Episodic Specificity

Teaching & Learning Guide for: Once Upon a Time: Explaining Cultural Differences in Episodic Specificity

First words and first memories

In two experiments autobiographical memories from childhood were recalled to cue words naming common objects, locations, activities and emotions. Participants recalled their earliest specific memory associated with each word and dated their age at the time of the remembered event. A striking and specific finding emerged: age of earliest memory was systematically later, by several months, than the age of acquisition of the word to which it was associated. This was the case for earlier and later acquired words, for all word types, and for younger as well as older adults. It is suggested that this systematic lag reflects the formation of conceptual knowledge that is abstracted from details represented in early episodic memories. It is not until such knowledge is formed that a word cue and the conceptual knowledge in long-term to which it corresponds, can be used to access specific episodic memories. The implications of this for understanding childhood amnesia and for theories of the development of autobiographical memory are considered.

On telling the whole story: Facts and interpretations in autobiographical memory narratives from childhood through midadolescence.

This article examines age differences from childhood through middle adolescence in the extent to which children include factual and interpretive information in constructing autobiographical memory narratives. Factual information is defined as observable or perceptible information available to all individuals who experience a given event, while interpretive information is defined as information that articulates the desires, emotions, beliefs, and thoughts of the participant and other individuals who experience an event. Developmental research suggests that the latter type of information should become particularly prevalent in later adolescence, while the former should be abundantly evident by age 8. Across 2 studies, we found evidence for strong increases in interpretive information during adolescence, but not before. These increases were evident across different types of events, and across different subtypes of interpretive content. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for the development of autobiographical memory in childhood and adolescence.

Development of autonoetic autobiographical memory in school-age children: Genuine age effect or development of basic cognitive abilities?

This study investigated the mechanisms behind episodic autobiographical memory (EAM) development in school-age children. Thirty children (6–11years) performed a novel EAM test. We computed one index of episodicity via autonoetic consciousness and two indices of retrieval spontaneity (overall and EAM-specific) for a recent period (previous school year) and a more remote one (preschool years). Executive functions, and episodic and personal semantic memory were assessed. Results showed that recent autobiographical memories (AMs) were mainly episodic, unlike remote ones. An age-related increase in the indices of episodicity and specific spontaneity for recent AMs was mainly mediated by an age-related increase in the efficiency of the three cognitive abilities. Remote AMs varied only slightly with age (overall spontaneity), reflecting improvements in semantic abilities. Thus, EAM development in school-age children is essentially bound up with the increasing efficiency of cognitive abilities. Results are discussed in the light of models of childhood amnesia.

Functions of Memory Sharing and Mother-Child Reminiscing Behaviors: Individual and Cultural Variations

This study examined maternal beliefs about the functions of memory sharing and the relations between these beliefs and mother-child reminiscing behaviors in a cross-cultural context. Sixty-three European American and 47 Chinese mothers completed an open-ended questionnaire concerning their beliefs about the functions of parent-child memory sharing. They also engaged in a joint-reminiscing task with their child. European American mothers were more likely than Chinese mothers to report social (conversational and relationship maintenance) and teaching/problem solving functions. In addition, conversational functions were associated with increased maternal elaborativeness and evaluations during reminiscing, independent of culture. Results are discussed in light of the functional and cultural contexts of early autobiographical memory development.

Maternal Reminiscing Style During Early Childhood Predicts the Age of Adolescents’ Earliest Memories

Individual differences in parental reminiscing style are hypothesized to have long-lasting effects on children's autobiographical memory development, including the age of their earliest memories. This study represents the first prospective test of this hypothesis. Conversations about past events between 17 mother-child dyads were recorded on multiple occasions between the children's 2nd and 4th birthdays. When these children were aged 12-13 years, they were interviewed about their early memories. Adolescents whose mothers used a greater ratio of elaborations to repetitions during the early childhood conversations had earlier memories than adolescents whose mothers used a smaller ratio of elaborations to repetitions. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that past-event conversations during early childhood have long-lasting effects on autobiographical memory.

Narrative Interaction in Family Dinnertime Conversations.

Reminiscing has been shown to be a critical conversational context for the development of autobiographical memory, self-concept, and emotional regulation (for a review, see Fivush, Haden, & Reese, 2006). Although much past research has examined reminiscing between mothers and their preschool children, very little attention has been given to family narrative interaction with older children. In the present study, we examined family reminiscing in spontaneous narratives that emerged during family dinnertime conversations. The results revealed that mothers contributed more to the narratives than did fathers in that they provided, confirmed, and negated more information, although fathers requested more information than mothers. In exploratory analyses, mothers' contributions to shared family narratives were found to be related to fewer internalizing and externalizing behaviors in their children, while fathers' contributions to individual narratives of day-today experiences were related to fewer internalizing and externalizing behaviors in their children. These results indicate that mothers and fathers may play different roles in narrative construction with their children, and there is some suggestion that these differences may also be related to children's behavioral adjustment.

Autobiographical Memory and Past Time Reference

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between the acquisition of language and the development of autobiographical memory. The investigation was based on the analysis of longitudinal caregiver-child interaction data from 10 children learning English during the period from approximately 2 to 4 years of age. Three forms of past reference were analyzed: (1) regular and irregular simple past tense, (2) past progressive, and (3) subordinate clause constructions with when and past time reference (i.e., past when-sentences). Simple past was acquired relatively early at 2;4 (cf. Brown, 1973), past when-sentences relatively late at 3;6 (cf. Limber, 1973), and past-progressive in the interim at 2;10. The discourse segments surrounding the sentences that contained these forms were analyzed for the following three elements: (1) reference time context established, (2) a supporting event expressed in the segment, and (3) reference made to a self-relevant, real-life event. The likelihood that a discourse segment would include these three elements increased as past reference advanced from simple past to past progressive and then to past when-sentences. As the morpho-syntax of past reference became more complex, a higher proportion of past time references provided evidence for autobiographical memory.

The Development of Autobiographical Memory

Autobiographical memory is a uniquely human system that integrates memories of past experiences into an overarching life narrative. In this review, I extend social-cultural models of autobiographical memory development and present theory and research that demonstrates that (a) autobiographical memory is a gradually developing system across childhood and adolescence that depends on the development of a sense of subjective self as continuous in time; (b) autobiographical memory develops within specific social and cultural contexts that relate to individual, gendered, and cultural differences in adults' autobiographical memories, and, more specifically, (c) mothers who reminisce with their young children in elaborated and evaluative ways have children who develop more detailed, coherent, and evaluative autobiographical memories.

Emotion knowledge and autobiographical memory across the preschool years: A cross-cultural longitudinal investigation

Knowledge of emotion situations facilitates the interpretation, processing, and organization of significant personal event information and thus may be an important contributor to the development of autobiographical memory. This longitudinal study tested the hypothesis in a cross-cultural context. The participants were native Chinese children, Chinese children from first-generation Chinese immigrant families in the U.S., and European American children. Children’s developing emotion knowledge and autobiographical memory were assessed three times at home, when children were 3, 3.5, and 4.5 years of age. Children’s emotion knowledge uniquely predicted their autobiographical memory ability across groups and time points. Emotion knowledge further mediated culture effects on autobiographical memory. The findings provide important insight into early autobiographical memory development, and extend current theoretical understandings of the emotion–memory interplay. They further have implications for the phenomenon of infantile amnesia and cross-cultural differences in childhood recollections.

Talking about Twisters: Relations between Mothers' and Children's Contributions to Conversations about a Devastating Tornado

Mother-child dyads who experienced a devastating tornado talked about the storm and about two affectively more positive or neutral events at each of two time points: 4 months and 10 months after the storm. The conversations were analyzed to determine whether mothers and/or children's contributions differed as a function of event type and whether there were concurrent and/or cross-lagged relations between mothers and children's contributions to the conversations. For both members of the dyads, contributions were similar (and correlated) across event types. Maternal narrative style related to children's levels of participation and to the amount of unique information the children contributed to the conversations, both concurrently and over time; cross-lagged relations were more robust for the tornado relative to the nontornado related events. The implications of the patterns for socialization models of autobiographical memory development are discussed.

Training Mothers in Elaborative Reminiscing Enhances Children’s Autobiographical Memory and Narrative

This longitudinal intervention assessed children's memory at 2(1/2) years (short-term posttest; N=115) and their memory and narrative at 3(1/2) years (long-term posttest; N=100) as a function of maternal training in elaborative reminiscing when children were 1(1/2) to 2(1/2) years. At both posttests, trained mothers were more elaborative in their reminiscing than untrained mothers. At the long-term posttest, trained mothers were also more repetitive than untrained mothers. Children of trained mothers provided richer memories than children of untrained mothers at both posttests. Children of trained mothers also produced more accurate memories with researchers but only if they had high initial levels of self-awareness. Results are discussed with respect to theory and practice in autobiographical memory development.

Developing past and future selves for time travel narratives

AbstractMental time travel requires the sense of a past and future self, which is lacking in the early years of life. Research on the development of autobiographical memory and development of self sheds light on the difference between memory in other animals and its cultural narrative basis in humans.