The Socialization of Children's Memory: Linking Maternal Conversational Style to the Development of Children's Autobiographical and Deliberate Memory Skills

Abstract

Data from a large-scale, longitudinal research study with an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample were utilized to explore linkages between maternal elaborative conversational style and the development of children's autobiographical and deliberate memory. Assessments were made when the children were 3, 5, and 6 years of age, and the results reveal concurrent and longitudinal linkages between maternal conversational style in a mother-child reminiscing task and children's autobiographical memory performance. Maternal conversational style while reminiscing was also significantly related to children's strategic behaviors and recall in two deliberate memory tasks, both concurrently and longitudinally. Results from this examination replicate and extend what is known about the linkages between maternal conversational style, children's abilities to talk about previous experiences, and children's deliberate memory skills as they transition from the preschool to early elementary school years.

Keywords: autobiographical memory; memory; metacognition; narrative.

Figures

Figure 1

Children’s Mean Number of Memory Elaborations in the Reminiscing Task as a Function of Maternal Elaborative Conversational Style in Reminiscing at 3 years

Figure 2

Latent Growth Curve Analysis of Children’s Memory Elaborations in the Reminiscing Task as a Function of Maternal Conversational Style at 3 years

Figure 3

Children’s Mean Number Items Recalled in the Object Memory Task as a Function of Maternal Elaborative Conversational Style in Reminiscing at 3 years

Figure 4

Latent Growth Curve Analysis of Children’s Recall in the Object Memory Task as a Function of Maternal Elaborative Conversational Style in Reminiscing at 3 years