Four experiments examined (1) whether reenactment improves 18‐month‐olds' event memory, (2) how effects of reenactment are affected by the time at which the reenactment occurs, (3) whether timing of reenactment affects recall over very long periods of time, and (4) how partial reenactment affects recall. Children were trained to perform 8 novel activities in a laboratory playroom, returned to the playroom 15 min to 8 weeks later to reenact the activities, and were tested for recall of the original activities 6 to 8 weeks after reenactment. Results indicate that reenactment improves toddlers' event memory (Experiment 1); reenactment is more effective after a time delay (Experiment 2); effects of timing of reenactment are even more pronounced after a 6 month delay (Experiment 3); and reenacting half of the activities is just as effective as reenacting all of the activities (Experiment 4). These findings suggest that reenacting events or parts of events can remind very young children of past experiences and inoculate against forgetting over very long periods of time.
ABSTRACT This study looked at preschool and first-grade children's ability to draw script-based and text inferences in comprehension of stories they heard. In two experiments, children were asked to recall brief stories and answer two inference questions: one script inference question requiring them to fill in information about the event that was not specifically stated in the story, and a text inference question requiring them to infer relationships between story propositions that could not be inferred on the basis of event knowledge alone. In one experiment the text inference question required a propositional inference on the basis of two premise statements in the story, and in the other experiment the text inference question required an invited inference based on children's real world knowledge. Results suggested that children aged 4 to 6 years are better able to draw inferences based on schematically organized event knowledge than inferences, requiring the construction of relationships between propositions not already represented in a schema. Results suggest that text inference questions are inherently more difficult than script-based inference questions and that invited inference questions are easier for children in this age group to answer than propositional inference questions. It is concluded that development of inferential processing in oral text comprehension is characterized as a progression from automatic use of a familiar schema to more purposeful deductive reasoning. (MSE)
Abstract This study examined the effects of implicitly presented odors on the emotional content of memory narratives. Participants were exposed to low levels of perfumes or no odors while they reconstructed a memory from childhood and a recurrent dream. Narratives were analyzed for emotional content using the Linguistic and Inquiry Word Count program. Exposure to perfumes increased the percentage of positive emotion words used by participants in recalling both dreams and childhood memories. In addition, exposure to odors decreased the percentage of negative emotion words that men used in their narratives, whereas the opposite effect was found for women. Discussion focuses on gender differences in written emotional expression, possible ways by which perfumes may exert their effects, and the usefulness of using ambient odors and objective content analysis when studying emotions in memories.
Abstract Mothers engaged their 21/2- and 4-year-old children in conversations about novel and familiar past and future events. Analyses focused on (a) evidence for style differences in mothers' elicitation of future event talk, (b) the temporal frames of references (past, future, general, and hypothetical) mothers used across conversations, and (c) mothers' use of conventional time terms (e.g., last week, on Sunday). Mothers showed little consistency in style of elicitation over past and future conversations. In conversations about future events, mothers produced more references to future time, more hypothetical references, and more conventional time references. In talking about the past, mothers referred to the past more often and used more sequence terms. Mothers also varied their temporal references when talking about novel and familiar events. Results are discussed in terms of how conversations about future events can contribute to the development of children's concepts of time.
'%3e%3cpath fill='%23012169' d='M0 0v30h60V0z'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23fff' stroke-width='6' d='m0 0 60 30m0-30L0 30'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23C8102E' stroke-width='4' d='m0 0 60 30m0-30L0 30' clip-path='url(%23b)'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23fff' stroke-width='10' d='M30 0v30M0 15h60'/%3e%3cpath stroke='%23C8102E' stroke-width='6' d='M30 0v30M0 15h60'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/svg%3e)
