Event Characteristics Help Explain the Distribution of Autobiographical Memories Over the First Decade of Life

• In Event: Learning and memory in childhood

Abstract

The shape of the distribution of autobiographical memories over the first decade of life is characterized by a paucity of memories from the early years followed by a gradual increase in the number of surviving memories. This phenomenon, known as childhood amnesia, has received substantial research attention. Missing from the literature, though, is systematic investigation of whether the actual events and experiences that make up the fabric of our lives differ over the first decade of life, such that differential distribution of the events themselves may play a role in explaining the shape of the corpus of autobiographical memories. In other words, we were interested in how the characteristics of events experienced in childhood differ based on when they occurred and if the events’ characteristics are predictive of consistent recall.

Thus, in the present work, we examined the objective characteristics of events and experiences recalled by youth aged 12- to 14-year-old (N = 51). At Time 1, participants provided three memories via an online survey from each of the following time periods: ages one to five, six to ten, and the previous year of life. One month later (Time 2), participants were asked to recall the previously reported events, cued by titles written in the initial survey. Data were originally reported in Bauer, Hättenschwiler, & Larkina, 2016. We applied two coding schemes to the data, Event Characteristics and Consistency (reported in Larkina, Merrill, & Bauer, 2017). Event narratives (n = 497) were coded for ten independent event characteristics: negative emotional valence, positive emotional valence, frequency of occurrence, duration, location change(s), predictability, cultural sharedness, impact, and educational nature. Consistency was examined at the level of the event (same event reported at Time 1 and 2) and at the level of detail (same information reported at Time 1 and 2). Data were analyzed using linear and logistic mixed-effects regression models to account for non-independence in the data, as individual participants provided multiple narratives.

Results revealed events with more negative emotional valence, lower frequency of occurrence, and that were culturally shared were more likely to be recalled at the level of the event. Events with less positive emotional valence, shorter duration, fewer changes in location, and less predictability were more consistently recalled at the level of detail. The characteristics of reported events were largely similar across the decade, with significant differences in the representation of event characteristics only between earliest memories (1-5 years) and later periods (6-10 years and the previous year). The findings suggest that objective qualities of events do play a role in how consistently events are remembered and how memories are distributed over the first decade of life, offering insight on the phenomena of childhood amnesia and the distribution of autobiographical memories.

Authors

• Emma Simpson, University of California - Irvine
  Presenting Author

• Katherine Anne Lee, Emory University

• Patricia J Bauer, Emory University