Event Characteristics Predict Recall of Autobiographical Memories across Childhood and Adulthood Open Access

Abstract

Autobiographical memory is a form of declarative memory relating to memories that are personal and self-defining. These memories help us to describe and explain who we are and to construct the narratives of our lives. Whereas autobiographical memories help us to form coherent life stories, there is a relative paucity among adults of memories from the first 3-4 years of life. This period is referred to as childhood amnesia. The period of relative paucity of memories is followed by a gradually increasing number of memories until an adult-like distribution of memory is evidenced around age 8. Although research has demonstrated that young children do form and recall autobiographical memories, many of these memories do not survive into adolescence and adulthood. Limited research has suggested that the specific characteristics that make up the everyday events of individuals’ lives may contribute to this pattern of remembering and forgetting on either side of the boundary of childhood amnesia. Thus, in the present study we used an existing data set used in Bauer and Larkina (2015) to analyze 4-year-olds', 8-year-olds', and adults' autobiographical memories across a one-year delay. We employed a relatively new event characteristics coding scheme to examine whether 10 unique event characteristics might help to explain the distribution of autobiographical memories on either side of the “boundary” of childhood amnesia. The findings of the present research have important implications relating to the role of event characteristics on memory recall during childhood and beyond. 

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Methods 8

 Participants 8

Materials and Procedure 9 

Cueing Narrative Events 10

Coding and Data Reduction 11

 Analytic Approach 12

Results 13

Descriptive Statistics for Wave 1 13

Event Characteristic Score by Age Group at Wave 1 14

Recall at Wave 2 15

Event Characteristics Predicting Recall at Wave 2 Across Ages 16

Recall by Age and/or Event Characteristics at Wave 2 17

Discussion 17

Summary of Major Findings 18

Implications 20

Other Contributions 21

Limitations and Future Directions 21

Conclusion 23 

References 25

Tables and Figures 28

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Psychology
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, Developmental
Keyword	Event Characteristics Autobiographical Memory Developmental Psychology
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Dr. Patricia Bauer, Emory University
Committee Members	Professor Jennifer Feldman, Emory University Dr. Sara Botto, Emory University

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