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Cognitive Learning and Memory in Children pp 81–115Cite as

Social Contexts and Functions of Children’s Remembering

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Part of the book series: Springer Series in Cognitive Development ((2116))

Abstract

Whether we examine histories of societies or lives of individuals, we can review ample evidence of the cues that are erected to prevent forgetting. Statues, notes, and even knots can help to remind us of particular events in the past or to cue us to perform designated actions in the future. Vygotsky was interested in the socialized construction of these cultural artifacts and personal signs as mental cues that serve parallel functions in sociohistory and memory development. The “essence” in both is “purposely building” “so as not to forget.” The intentional selection of cues and mnemonic tactics to aid remembering is a developmental accomplishment that is part of higher mental functions according to Vygotsky (1978). Remembering, planning, and other forms of directed reasoning extend basic psychological processes through the use of signs and tools in the broadest sense of cognitive instruments.

It has been remarked that the very essence of civilization consists of purposely building monuments so as not to forget. In both the knot and the monument we have manifestations of the most fundamental and characteristic feature distinguishing human from animal memory. (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 51).

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  1. Scott G. Paris
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  2. Richard S. Newman
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  3. Janis E. Jacobs
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, N6A 5C2, London, Ontario, Canada

    Michael Pressley

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, T6G 2E9, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    Charles J. Brainerd

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Paris, S.G., Newman, R.S., Jacobs, J.E. (1985). Social Contexts and Functions of Children’s Remembering. In: Pressley, M., Brainerd, C.J. (eds) Cognitive Learning and Memory in Children. Springer Series in Cognitive Development. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9544-7_3

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