“That one makes things small”: Experimentally induced spontaneous memories in 3.5-year-olds

Abstract

We introduce a new method for examining spontaneous (unprompted) autobiographical memories in 3.5-year-old children, by inducing them in a laboratory setting. Thirty-eight 3.5-year-olds, who had previously participated in a study in our lab involving highly unique props, were brought back after a one-month delay to the same lab arranged as in the original study and with the same Experimenter present. While waiting for the Experimenter in front of the props, their spontaneous verbalizations about the previous unique experiment were recorded, scored, and compared to those of 29 naïve Controls of the same age. The children in the experimental group produced significantly more spontaneous verbalizations related to the to-be-remembered event measured on a variety of dimensions. The study introduces a promising new approach to investigating spontaneous memories in young children in a controlled lab setting. The findings are discussed in relation to involuntary autobiographical memories as examined in adults.

Does retrieval intentionality really matter? Similarities and differences between involuntary memories and directly and generatively retrieved voluntary memories

“…Second, the results highlight the importance of describing involuntary memories not only by reference to cognitive effort, but also to the lack of intention during retrieval. This supports a recent distinction between involuntary memory and spontaneous memory, where the latter term is used when prior intention is unlikely but cannot be ruled out, for example in young children (Krøjgaard et al ., ). Third, we were able to replicate results obtained by Harris et al .…”

“…The role of a conscious intention to retrieve is less clear, although it resides at the heart of the involuntary versus voluntary distinction (Mace, ). Krøjgaard, Kingo, Dahl, and Berntsen () argued that the study of involuntary memory is only possible when participants possess the meta‐cognitive abilities required to identify them as unintentional. They therefore had no direct evidence that preschool children's memories were retrieved involuntarily, but decided to use the term ‘spontaneous memories’ to refer to ‘verbally produced, environmentally cued, and unprompted memories’ (Krøjgaard et al ., , p. 25).…”

“…Krøjgaard, Kingo, Dahl, and Berntsen () argued that the study of involuntary memory is only possible when participants possess the meta‐cognitive abilities required to identify them as unintentional. They therefore had no direct evidence that preschool children's memories were retrieved involuntarily, but decided to use the term ‘spontaneous memories’ to refer to ‘verbally produced, environmentally cued, and unprompted memories’ (Krøjgaard et al ., , p. 25). This approach highlights the lack of intention as a defining characteristic of involuntary memories.…”

By-passing strategic retrieval: Experimentally induced spontaneous episodic memories in 35- and 46-month-old children

“…We define spontaneous memories as (i) verbally produced, (ii) socially unprompted, and (iii) environmentally cued (Krøjgaard, Kingo, Dahl, & Berntsen, 2014). 'Socially unprompted' means that the memories do not occur as a result of prompts of any kind, as for instance explicit or implicit questions or demand characteristics directed at the child.…”

“…Because spontaneous retrieval is based primarily on associative mechanisms and hence less dependent on executive functions and mature frontal lobes, (a) spontaneous retrieval is assumed to be less cognitively demanding than strategic retrieval, and, following the same logic, (b) spontaneous memories may be more prevalent in children than in adults, and (c) is likely to be developmentally earlier than strategic remembering (Berntsen, 2009(Berntsen, , 2012. In the following we briefly present the existing evidence on spontaneous memories in children (for a more detailed review, see Krøjgaard et al, 2014).…”