The Ability to Place Events in Time and its Relation to Executive Function during Preschool

• In Event: Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Topic - Attention, Learning, Memory

Abstract

Time is an essential feature of autobiographical memory—memory for personal events from a specific time and place (Bauer, 2007; Tulving, 1972). Temporal memory (i.e., memory for ‘when’) development is important for cognitive and socio-emotional outcomes. We use our temporally organized experiences to build a life story and construct a self-identity (Friedman, 1993; Nelson & Fivush, 2004). Additionally, age-related changes in children’s memory for time are crucially important to consider in legal settings where children are required to give testimony. Previous research indicates that temporal memory develops more slowly than memory for ‘who’ and ‘where’ (Lee, Wendelken, Bunge, & Ghetti, 2016). Children begin to recall information about the time of personal events at the end of the preschool period (Reese, 2009). Although studies have tracked developmental changes in temporal memory, there is less known about the factors that drive these changes. As children’s temporal memory abilities are emerging during the preschool period, there are also substantial changes in their executive function (EF; Zelazo & Müller, 2002). Additionally, there is evidence that EF is related to preschoolers’ memory for context (Drummey & Newcombe, 2002; Rajan, Cuevas, & Bell, 2014), and one study found that EF accounted for unique variance in 4- to 16-year-olds’ recall of temporal details from a story (Picard, Cousin, Guillery-Girard, Eustache, & Piolino, 2012). If children need to use EF to place events in time, that could help to explain why it develops more slowly than memory for other types of details. The goal of the current study was to investigate the relation between temporal memory of personal events and EF in 4- and 5-year-olds.

We asked 87 4- and 5-year-olds (48 to 72 months) about the time of day (i.e., morning, afternoon, night) and season (i.e., Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer) of 2 parent-nominated events. Participants also completed an EF task battery that included measures of inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. We combined children’s scores for the time and season questions to create a composite temporal score. We also calculated an EF composite by calculating z-scores for each task and then summing the z-scores.

We conducted a hierarchical regression with temporal score as the dependent variable, age entered as an independent variable in the first step and the EF score entered as an independent variable in the second step. Age was not a significant predictor, β=.142, R2=.020, p=.220, but EF was, β=.299, R2Δ=.085, p=.026. Thus, children’s EF was related to temporal memory over and above age, suggesting that EF is especially important for changes in temporal memory during the preschool period.

Based on these findings, EF may be driving age-related changes in children’s early temporal memory abilities. Friedman (1993) suggested that temporal information is not automatically tagged to an event, but rather adults and children reconstruct the time of an event by combining recalled details with knowledge of time patterns (e.g., seasons). When engaging in this process children likely rely on EF so they can manipulate event representations and integrate event details with their knowledge of time.

Authors

• Kathleen Bettencourt, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Presenting Author

• Jessica Barselow, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Non-Presenting Author

• Stuart Marcovitch, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Non-Presenting Author