Children's and Adults' Memory for Television Stories: The Role of Causal Factors, Story-Grammar Categories, and Hierarchical Level

Abstract

What events from televised stories do preschool children and adults remember? In this study, we examined the extent to which 4-year-old and 6-year-old children's and adults' free recall of events from "Sesame Street" stories is determined by the role the events play in the story structure. Events varied with respect to 4 structural properties: number of causal connections, status on or off the story's causal chain, story-grammar category, and position in the story's hierarchical structure. There were systematic developmental differences in the effects of these properties on recall. First, memory at all ages was strongly influenced by the 2 causal factors, but effects of these factors increased with age. Second, children emphasized actions in their recall, whereas adults most frequently recalled protagonists' goals and events that initiated these goals. Third, children's recall increased as the hierarchical level of events increased, whereas adults most frequently recalled (causally more important) events at intermediate levels. These findings demonstrate that preschool children are already sensitive to structural features of televised narratives but that utilization of the causal-motivational structure of narratives increases systematically with age.

Young children's use of causal connections during storytelling : The role of context and individual differences in attention.

“…The studies conclude that 4-year-olds are able to make causal connections, but do so inconsistently. This is confirmed by research showing that 4-year-olds can use causal connections in recall, but less reliably than 6-year-olds and adults (van den Broek, 1996). In contrast, 3-year-olds are reported not to have this ability (Trabasso & Nickels, 1992;.…”

“…This pervasiveness makes the ability to understand and produce narrative important for social and academic success. This is confirmed by research showing that the understanding of causal connections is important for comprehension and recall in a variety of narrative forms (Lorch, Diener et al, 1999;Lorch, Sanchez et al, 1999;Wolman et al, 1997;Rizella & O'Brien, 1996;van den Broek et al, 1996;van den Broek, 1989;van den Broek & Trabasso, 1986;Trabasso et al, 1984;Trabasso & van den Broek, 1985).…”

“…For example, when 4-year-old children were prompted by descriptive and explanatory questions, statements of attempts and purposes significantly increased . However, several studies show that the ability to produce causal connections (Renz et al, 2003;Trabasso & Nickels, 1992) follows a developmental trend similar to the recall of causal information (Berman, 2004;Lorch, Diener et al, 1999;Lorch, Sanchez et al, 1999;van den Broek et al, 1996). The developmental trends are also similar across mediums; story narratives and television (Lorch & Sanchez, 1997).…”

“…Adults recall and comprehend information that is causally connected more often than information that is unconnected (Rizella & O'Brien, 1996; van den Broek, Lorch, & Thurlow, 1996;van den Broek & Trabasso, 1986;Trabasso & van den Broek, 1985) and are more likely to include causally connected material when writing (van den Broek, Linzie, Fletcher, & Marsolek, 2000). When evaluating information in narrative, children and adults are more likely to rate causally connected information as more important than unconnected information (Wolman, 1991;van den Broek, 1989;Trabasso & Sperry, 1985;Trabasso & van den Broek, 1985).…”

“…When evaluating information in narrative, children and adults are more likely to rate causally connected information as more important than unconnected information (Wolman, 1991;van den Broek, 1989;Trabasso & Sperry, 1985;Trabasso & van den Broek, 1985). Other research shows that children developing typically and children with disabilities also use causal connections in tasks of recall and comprehension (Lorch, O'Neil et al, 2004;Lorch, Diener et al, 1999;Lorch, Sanchez et al, 1999;Wolman, van den Broek, & Lorch, 1997;van den Broek et al, 1996;Wolman, 1991;van den Broek, 1989;Trabasso, Secco, & van den Broek, 1984). Little is known, however, about the use and understanding of causal connections in very young children.…”