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Updated: Jun 21, 2025

Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm
Published on: April 28, 2016
Mother-child memory conversation and children's independent memory: the roles of maternal characteristics
Aysu Alkis1, Yağmur İlgün1, Basak Sahin-Acar1
1Department of Psychology, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Türkiye.
Abstract:
Mother-child memory conversations are a nuanced and important factor in children's memory development. The current study focuses on maternal characteristics that are related to individual differences in maternal elaborative style. It also examines the role of maternal elaborative style in children's elaborativeness in the context of reminiscing and recounting. Two hundred and nine Turkish mothers (Mage = 36.32, SD = 4.99) and their 5- to 6-year-olds (Mage in months = 66.88, SD = 4.04) (110 girls, 99 boys) participated in the current study. Results revealed that maternal individuation and balanced self-construal type predicted maternal elaborativeness, which in turn predicted child elaborativeness in reminiscing and recounting. Yet, such a relation was not observed for maternal attachment styles or sensitivity. Findings suggested the importance of maternal individuation and balanced self-construal for mothers' and children's elaborativeness in memory conversations.
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