3-108 - Memory for Prosocial Behavior and Transgressions

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Do we remember our own good and bad behaviors differently than others' behaviors? Evidence suggests that American adults remember their own behavior in a self-serving way, focusing more on the positive. However, little research has examined this in children or adults from other cultures. The papers in this symposium investigate self-serving biases in children's and adults' memories and explore the implications for self-concept and behavior towards others.

The first paper shows that 6-year-olds, 9-year-olds, and adults have better memory for nice verbs (e.g., share) compared to mean verbs (e.g., hit) when these have been associated with themselves. In contrast, when the verbs are associated with another person, memory is better for mean verbs than nice ones. The second paper shows that Asian and European American college students minimize harm in narratives of their own transgressions and maximize harm in narratives of being victims of others' transgressions. Additionally, Asians who maximize other's harm toward them have lower self-acceptance while European Americans who minimize other's harm have lower self-acceptance. The third paper shows that 6- to 8-year-olds give more to someone else after recalling a time when they were nice compared to after recalling a time when they were mean or did a neutral behavior. They do not give more, however, after recalling a time when someone else was nice to them. These three papers will be placed into context by the discussant, an expert in the role of parent-child conversation in cognitive development and socialization practices.

Sub Unit

• Attention, Learning, Memory

Chair

• Shaina F. Rowell, University of Virginia

Discussant

• Maureen Callanan, University of California, Santa Cruz

Individual Presentations

• Memory for Self- Versus Other-Referenced Moral Verbs - Presenting Author: Shaina F. Rowell, University of Virginia; Vikram K. Jaswal, University of Virginia

• Harmed or Not Harmed? Culture in Interpersonal Transgression Memory and Self-Acceptance - Presenting Author: Quingfang Song, Dept. of Human Development, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University; Qi Wang, Dept. of Human Development, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University

• Memories of Good Deeds Past: The Reinforcing Power of Prosocial Behavior in Children - Presenting Author: Arber Tasimi, Yale University; Liane Young, Boston College