What the stories children tell can tell about their memory: Narrative skill and young children's suggestibility.

Abstract

The authors examined the relation between children's narrative ability, which has been identified as an important contributor to memory development, and suggestibility. Across 2 studies, a total of 112 preschool-aged children witnessed a staged event and were subsequently questioned suggestively. Results from Study 1 indicated that children's ability to provide a high-quality narrative of the event was related to resistance to suggestive questions, and narrative ability appeared to supersede age as a predictor of such resistance. In Study 2, children's general language and narrative abilities were measured in addition to their ability to produce a high-quality narrative about the target event. These results replicated Study 1's findings that children's ability to produce a high-quality narrative of a previously experienced event predicted resistance to suggestion. However, the quality of children's autobiographical memory narratives predicted shifting from denial to assent. Findings are considered in light of narrative's role in memory development and underlying mechanisms that may explain children's suggestibility.

The Relationship between Socioeconomic Status and Narrative Abilities in a Group of Italian Normally Developing Children

“…However, this study contained no mothers who had a university degree, and this might have obscured any impact that educational level has on children's narrative language abilities. Also Kulkofsky et al [19] found no association between maternal education and narrative quality in a group of 112 preschool-aged children. It must be noted that in this study there was little variation in maternal educational levels, since the large majority of mothers had a college degree.…”

“…It must be noted that in this study there was little variation in maternal educational levels, since the large majority of mothers had a college degree. In addition, in the studies mentioned above, only 6- and 7-year-olds [18] and preschool-aged children [19] were studied. More recently, Alt et al [20] analyzed the association of SES with narrative story retellings in 907 native Spanish-speaking bilingual (Spanish-English) kindergarten and 2nd grade students; narration in both English and Spanish samples was analyzed.…”

Literary arts and the development of the life story

“…Throughout adolescence the coherence of these life stories increases, with children increasingly able to produce more integrated representations of their personal history (Habermas & Paha, 2001;Habermas & de Silveira, 2008). Because the ability to create a coherent narrative for a specifi c life episode buffers this memory from distortion (Kulkofsky & Kiemfuss, 2008), an interesting possibility arises: The ability to create a coherent life story might result in a more stable self-identity. In light of this possibility, it is important to consider what might promote or foster the development of a coherent life story.…”

Parental attachment and children's memory for attachment-relevant stories

“…Children also completed the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (Dunn & Dunn, 1997), a measure of receptive vocabulary, to control for potential effects of verbal ability on their story cohesiveness (Kulkofsky & Klemfuss, 2008; Pearce, James, & McCormack, 2010) and their memory and suggestibility (Bruck & Melnyk, 2004; Clarke-Stewart, Malloy, & Allhusen, 2004). Children’s physiological responses were also monitored during the memory interview to evaluate whether children were differentially aroused as a function of whether the interviewer was supportive versus non-supportive.…”