Abstract
Recent evidence shows that returning to the same distinct lab setting after 1 week triggers spontaneous memories in 35- and 46-month-old children. However, it remains unclarified which specific cues are triggering spontaneous recall. We report two experiments in which distinct contextual cues were altered between encoding and test. In Experiment 1 (N = 76), the color of the box containing the event props was changed. Despite this change, the children still showed spontaneous recall. In Experiment 2 (N = 77), a more radical change was employed as the children returned to a completely differently furnished, and novel room. The children still engaged in spontaneous recall, although less frequently. Importantly, when comparing the number of children having spontaneous recollections, only about half as many children in Experiment 2 as in Experiment 1 exhibited spontaneous memories. These results underscore the importance of an encoding-retrieval match for spontaneous episodic memory in young children.
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Notes
In previous studies using the same basic design, in addition to the Word List measure, a Coding Scheme measure was also used. However, since the two measures have repeatedly led to almost identical results across studies, we this time—for the sake of simplicity—only included the Word List measure in the manuscript.
Given that we failed to obtain CDI data from one participant, these analyses were based on n = 75.
Given that we failed to obtain CDI data from six participants, these analyses were based on n = 71.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all of the participating children and their families for making this study possible. Furthermore, we would like to thank Emilie Kusk Nielsen, Sofie Dam Christiansen, and Marie Nymand for testing all of the children. Finally, we would like to thank Mette Rügler Sørensen and Emilie Buur Kristensen for coding the video material. This study has been supported by the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF89) and the VELUX FOUNDATION (VELUX10386).
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This study has been supported by the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF89) and the VELUX FOUNDATION (VELUX10386).
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Appendix A
Appendix A
Examples of spontaneous utterances and the number of hits from the word list coding. Note all words from the word list have been italicized.
Age | Condition | Quote (number of hits) |
|---|---|---|
35 months old | Radical Room Change | “Where is the elephant? (1) |
46 months old | Box Color Change | “Mom, do you know when it was red?” “But there are teddies inside” (2) |
46 months old | Radical Room Change | “Eh, now they have moved, the boxes. Then you can’t get anything. It has all been thrown out. Now they moved the black and the red one” (3) |
35 months old | Radical Room Change | “Where are the teddies you can push on? It Elly and Frederik (i.e., Alfred) in there.” (4) |
46 months old | Box Color Change | “Inside there are teddies. There are teddies in those cabinets… all kinds of animals. This is the blue side, because it is blue here [Comment: Note that the word ‘blue’ is not coded here, because it only refers to the perceived color and holds no indications of memory for the first visit]. Mom, it is pointing that way when it… because it should not hit the teddies.” (5) |
35 months old | Box Color Change | “Mom, what is inside the blue one? [Comment: Note that the word ‘blue’ is not coded here, because it only refers to the perceived color and holds no indications of memory for the first visit]. Maybe there is some music… clap with your hands. Maybe there are dogs? There are two dogs inside the blue box” (6) |
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Sonne, T., Kingo, O.S., Berntsen, D. et al. On the importance of contextual cues for spontaneous recall in 35- and 46-month-old children. Psychological Research 87, 1155–1165 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-022-01718-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-022-01718-3