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Updated: Apr 30, 2026

Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm
Published on: April 28, 2016
Attachment-related expectations and mother-referent memory bias in middle childhood
Adinda Dujardin1, Guy Bosmans, Caroline Braet
1Parenting and Special Education Research Unit, University of Leuven, Belgium.
Abstract:
Understanding the cognitive processing of attachment-relevant information has become a major focus of attachment research. Previous research demonstrated links between attachment and memory for attachment-related information, but results were contradictory and did not control for mood-effects. The current study aimed to provide a conceptual framework to capture inconsistencies. A straightforward memory bias hypothesis was derived and tested. Fifty children (aged 10-12) completed questionnaires assessing confidence in maternal support and depressive symptoms, and a memory task in which they recalled positive and negative words that referred to previous interactions with mother. Less confidence in maternal support and more depressive symptoms were linked to a more negative mother-related memory bias. The effect of confidence in maternal support remained marginally significant when controlling for depressive symptoms, explaining the initial effect of depressive symptoms. These findings support attachment theory's hypothesis that attachment-relevant information is processed in an attachment expectation-congruent way.
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