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Positive events protect children from causal false memories for scripted events
Annika Melinder1, Enrico Toffalini2, Eleonora Geccherle1,2
1a Cognitive Developmental Research Unit, Department of Psychology , University of Oslo , Oslo , Norway.
Memory (Hove, England)
|April 1, 2017
Summary
Children aged 6-12 years made fewer inferential false memories, specifically causal errors, for positive events compared to neutral or negative ones. This suggests emotional valence impacts children's memory development.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Adults exhibit reduced inferential false memories for emotionally charged events.
- The impact of emotional valence on children's inferential false memories remains underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether children show similar emotional modulation of inferential false memories as adults.
- To examine the effect of event valence (positive, negative, neutral) on children's causal errors.
Main Methods:
- 132 children (aged 6-12 years) viewed photographs of script-like events with varying emotional endings.
- Recognition memory was tested for true and false memories related to the scripts.
- Causal errors, a measure of inferential false memory, were analyzed based on event valence.
Main Results:
- Children made significantly fewer causal errors for positively valenced events compared to neutral or negatively valenced events.
- The findings indicate that positive emotional valence reduces inferential false memories in children.
Conclusions:
- Emotional valence, particularly positive endings, influences the development of inferential false memories in children.
- Results suggest developmental differences in how emotional valence affects memory, with potential implications for understanding adult memory processes.