Maternal provision of structure in a deliberate memory task in relation to their preschool children’s recall

Abstract

Strategic remembering emerges gradually during the preschool years. Socialization practices, specifically mother-child social interactions, might provide the foundation for developing of skills necessary for effective organization of information in memory. In the present study, 48 mothers and their 40-month-old children were engaged in the process of remembering (i.e., study and recall) categorically related picture stimuli in a laboratory context. Children's recall was reliably predicted by the way mothers structured both the study and recall periods of the deliberate memory task. Specifically, maternal verbal and physical behaviors that focused on organization of items, such as sorting items into distinct groups or providing the name of a category, were most beneficial in supporting children's memory. Moreover, some mothers employed a number of different mnemonic techniques that emphasized categorical connections among items, suggesting systematic approaches in the manner in which mothers help children learn effective ways of remembering. Keywordspreschoolers' memory; maternal support; memory development; socialization of memory; strategic remembering; sort-recall taskThe emergence and development of a number of cognitive skills are facilitated by social interactions between children and parents (or other more competent partners). The critical role of parent-child interactions has been documented in such diverse domains as language (e.g., Farrar, 1990;Hoff, 2006), problem solving (Garton, 2004, Rogoff & Gardner, 1984, and memory, especially children's autobiographical memory skills (Fivush, Haden, & Reese, 2006;Nelson & Fivush, 2004). According to the sociocultural perspective formulated by Vygotsky (1978), development of children's cognitive abilities takes place in social context: parents, who constitute one such context, provide support and structure of activities that contribute to children's developmental outcome. In the present research, we examined relations between mothers' structuring of a deliberate memory task and the memory performance of their 3-year-old children.The conceptualization for the present study was strongly influenced by research that emphasizes and provides evidence for social origins of autobiographical or personal memory. Autobiographical memory researchers have established that variations in the quality and Correspondence may be addressed to Marina Larkina, Psychology Department, Emory University, 532 Kilgo Circle, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; 404.712.8330 (phone); 404.727.0372 (fax); mlarki2@emory.edu.. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the jou...

The Socialization of Children’s Memory: Linking Maternal Conversational Style to the Development of Children’s Autobiographical and Deliberate Memory Skills

“…Indeed, Larkina, Güler, Bauer and colleagues have reported that mothers do differ in their use of memory strategies during a mother-child collaborative deliberate memory task and that these differences relate to children’s recall in the collaborative task and to children’s performance in individual deliberate memory tasks over time (see Larkina, Güler, Kleinknecht, & Bauer, 2008; Güler, Larkina, Kleinknecht, & Bauer, 2010). Future research could profitably examine the possible associations between the ways in which mothers reminisce with their children and also help their children deliberately “work to remember” information.…”

It’s all about location, location, location: Children’s memory for the “where” of personally experienced events

“…The activities were substantially more personally relevant than those often undertaken in research on the development of episodic memory, such as studying and remembering a list of words or pictures (e.g., Güler, Larkina, Kleinknecht, & Bauer, 2010; Larkina, Güler, Kleinknecht, & Bauer, 2008). Yet they cannot be said to rise to the level of significance of the birth of a sibling, welcoming of a new puppy into the family, or losing a grandparent.…”

Neuropsicologia do desenvolvimento da memória: da pré-escola ao período escolar

“…Há dois estilos de conversa das mães com seus filhos: as conversas mais elaboradas, que falam sobre o passado, e as menos elaboradas, que falam menos sobre o passado e não têm tanta riqueza de detalhes (Han, Leichtman, & Wang, 1998;Larkina, Güler, Kleinknecht, & Bauer, 2008); há ainda aquelas que falam sobre o futuro . Dessa forma, vão se formando os conceitos temporais da criança, assim como aqueles sobre si e sobre os outros .…”

“…A criança cuja mãe organiza seu discurso em categorias é mais propensa a ter melhor codificação e evocação de informações (Larkina et al, 2008). Observa-se que, em geral, meninas apresentam maior elaboração no diálogo com o pai aos 3, 6, 5 e 10 anos.…”