Children's long-term memory for a staged repeated event: A preliminary investigation

Abstract

In this study, we examined children's memory for a staged repeated event after a two-year delay to gain insights about how they represented the events in long-term memory. Children aged 4–8 experienced six events and were interviewed about the last occurrence shortly after the event and 2 years later (N = 29). Various characteristics of their memory reports at the delayed interview were analyzed (e.g., accuracy, specificity). Though the event was brief and embedded within their school day, the patterns in recall suggest that children represented the events as distinct from what usually happens at school. For example, all children were able to recall accurate information, and incorrect details were most often details they experienced during another occurrence of the events. The results of this preliminary investigation are considered in relation to prominent theories of event memory, and generate interesting directions for future repeated-event research.