The Psychometric Properties of the Autobiographical Memory Test in Preschool-Aged Children

The Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) is the most commonly used tool to assess the phenomenon of overgeneral memory. The AMT has mainly been used in adult populations, but its use in preschool children is less common. The need to create an appropriate instrument to study the memory specificity in preschool years led us to develop an AMT version adapted for early childhood. The AMT-Preschool (AMT-P) was administered to a sample of preschool children aged between 3 and 6 (N = 364). The results suggest that the AMT-P functions differently in preschoolers depending on age. With children older than 53 months, results suggest that the AMT-P is appropriate for assessing overgenerality. Nevertheless, with younger children age, the task is more difficult. These results concur with previous research suggesting that the ability to recall specific memories is consolidated from the age of 4½.