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Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm
Published on: April 28, 2016
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The self-memory system: Exploring developmental links between self and memory across early to late childhood
Josephine Ross1, Jacqui Hutchison2,3, Sheila J Cunningham3
1Psychology, School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.
Child Development
|September 9, 2024
Summary
Childhood self-knowledge and autobiographical memory develop together. Increased age correlated with more complex self-knowledge, better memory recall, and improved source monitoring, suggesting a linked developmental trajectory.
Area of Science:
- Developmental psychology
- Cognitive neuroscience
- Childhood memory development
Background:
- Self-knowledge and autobiographical memory are crucial for identity formation.
- Understanding their developmental relationship in childhood is key to explaining memory development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between the development of self-knowledge and autobiographical memory in children.
- To examine how age influences self-descriptions, memory reports, and source monitoring abilities.
Main Methods:
- Collected self-descriptions and autobiographical memory reports from 379 children aged 3–11 years.
- Assessed episodic memory using an enactment task measuring recall and source monitoring.
- Employed regression analyses and structural equation modeling to analyze developmental associations.
Main Results:
- Both self-knowledge and autobiographical memory complexity increased with age.
- Source monitoring skills and recall bias for own actions also improved with age.
- A significant association was confirmed between these developmental changes.
Conclusions:
- The development of self-knowledge and autobiographical memory are closely intertwined in childhood.
- These findings contribute to the understanding of the self-memory system's development.
- This integrated development may explain the reduction of childhood amnesia over time.
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