Advertisement

Personal Stories: Autobiographical Memory and Young Children’s Stories of Their Own Lives

  • Mary Renck JalongoEmail author
Chapter
First Online:
  • 501 Downloads
Part of the Educating the Young Child book series (EDYC, volume 16)

Abstract

The loss of memory due to traumatic brain injury or illness is widely regarded as a tragedy; therefore, the opposite process—namely, the construction of memory that commences in early childhood—merits careful study. Memory formation is much more than mental storage of experience over time. Memories are formed as the individual identifies significant life experiences and produces event-structured descriptions of these events, referred to as personal narratives. These remembered stories of one’s own life are told and retold, interpreted and reinterpreted, and become part of a life script. Participation in this process during early childhood contributes to the young child’s narrative abilities as well as to an emerging sense of self in relationships with others. The thesis of this chapter is that research on personal narratives during the early years offers important insights that can serve to deepen and widen families’ and educators’ understanding of the very young. It begins with definitions of memory, autobiographical memory, and personal narrative that draw from disciplines as diverse as child development, neuroscience, medicine, and literacy. It then discusses key narrative abilities and a developmental sequence for personal narrative skills during the early years. The chapter concludes with a synthesis of four strands in the research literature and implications for early childhood educators. Collectively, these evidence-based recommendations result in practical strategies that can be used to optimize the young child’s abilities in recalling, constructing, and sharing the stories of their lives.

Keywords

Memory Autobiographical memory Narrative Personal narrative Story 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Applebee, A. (1978). A child’s concept of story: Ages two to seventeen. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
  2. Baddeley, A., Eysenck, M. W., & Anderson, M. C. (2014). Memory (2nd ed.). Hove: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
  3. Bauer, P. J. (2008). Infantile amnesia. In M. M. Haith & J. B. Benson (Eds.), Encyclopedia of infant and early childhood development (pp. 51–61). San Diego: Academic.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Bauer, P. J., & Fivush, R. (2010). Context and consequences of autobiographical memory. [Editorial]. Cognitive Development, 25, 303–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Bayliss, D., Jarrold, C., Baddeley, A., Gunn, D., & Leigh, E. (2005). Mapping the developmental constraints on working memory span performance. Developmental Psychology, 41, 579–597.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Bliss, L. S., & McCabe, A. (2008). Personal narratives: Cultural differences and clinical implications. Topics in Language Disorders, 28, 162–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Bloome, D., Champion, T., Katz, L., Morton, M. B., Muldrow, R. (2001). Spoken and written narrative development: African American preschoolers as storytellers and story makers. J. L. Harris, A. G. Kamhi, K. E. Pollock, Literacy in African American communities (45–76). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
  8. Bluck, S. (2003). Autobiographical memory: Exploring its functions in everyday life. Memory, 11(2), 113–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Bohn, A., & Berntsen, D. (2013). The future is bright and predictable: The development of prospective life stories across childhood and adolescence. Journal of Developmental Psychology, 49(7), 1232–1241.  https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Boland, A. M., Haden, C. A., & Ornstein, P. A. (2003). Boosting children’s memory by training mothers in the use of an elaborative conversational style as an event unfolds. Journal of Cognition and Development, 4(1), 39–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Braid, D. (1996). Personal narrative and experiential meaning. Journal of American Folklore, 109, 5–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Cheatham, G. A., & Jimenez-Silva, M. (2012). Partnering with Latino families during kindergarten transition: Lessons learned from a parent-teacher conference. Childhood Education, 88(3), 177–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Cleveland, E. S., & Reese, S. (2005). Maternal structure and autonomy support in conversations about the past: Contributions of children’s autobiographical memory. Developmental Psychology, 41(2), 376–388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Conway, M. A., & Rubin, D. C. (1993). The structure of autobiographical memory. In A. F. Collins, S. E. Gathercole, M. A. Conway, & P. E. Morris (Eds.), Theories of memory (pp. 103–137). Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
  15. Crawley, R. A., & Eacott, M. J. (2006). Qualities of the experience of recollection. Memory & Cognition, 34(2), 287–294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Cunningham, K. E. (2015). Story: Still the heart of literacy learning. Portland: Stenhouse.Google Scholar
  17. Demiray, B., & Bluck, S. (2011). The relation of the conceptual self to recent and distant autobiographical memories. Memory, 19, 975–992.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Eichenbaum, H. (2011). The cognitive neuroscience of memory: An introduction (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Engle, S. (1995). The stories children tell: Making sense of the narratives of childhood. New York: W. H. Freeman.Google Scholar
  20. Fivush, R., & Buckner, P. (2003). Creating gender and identity through narratives. In R. Fivush & C. A. Haden (Eds.)., Autobiographical memory in the construction of a narrative self (pp. 149–167). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
  21. Fivush, R. (2011). The development of autobiographical memory. Annual Review of Psychology, 62, 559–582.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Fivush, R., & Haden, C. (Eds.). (2013). Autobiographical memory and the construction of a narrative self: Developmental and cultural perspectives. Hove: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
  23. Fivush, R. A., & Nelson, K. (2004). Culture and language in the emergence of autobiographical memory. Psychological Science, 15, 573–577.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Fox, M. (1989). Wilfrid Gordon MacDonald Partridge. La Jolla: Kane/Miller.Google Scholar
  25. Friedman, W. (2007). The development of temporal metamemory. Child Development, 78, 1472–1491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Fritz, K., Howie, P., & Kleitman, S. (2010). “How do I remember when I got my dog?” the structure and development of children’s metamemory. Metacognition and Learning, 5, 207–228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Gardner-Neblett, N., Pungello, E. P., & Iruka, I. U. (2011). Oral narrative skills: Implications for the reading development of African American children. Child Development Perspectives.  https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-8606.2011.00225.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. Grandin, T., & Johnson, C. (2006). Animals in translation: Using the mysteries of autism to decode animal behavior. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.Google Scholar
  29. Hackerman, A., & Holmes, E. A. (2004). Reflecting on imagery: A clinical perspective and overview of the special issue of memory on mental imagery and memory in psychopathology. Memory, 12(4), 389–402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. Haden, C. A. (2014). Interactions of knowledge and memory in the development of skilled remembering. In The Wiley handbook on the development of children’s memory (Vol. I/II, pp. 807–835). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
  31. Haden, C. A., Ornstein, P. A., Eckerman, C. O., & Didow, S. M. (2001). Mother-child conversational interactions as events unfold: Linkages to subsequent remembering. Child Development, 72(4), 1016–1031.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  32. Haden, C. A., Ornstein, P. A., Rudek, D. J., & Cameron, D. (2009). Reminiscing in the early years: Patterns of maternal elaborativeness and children’s remembering. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 33(3), 118–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  33. Hare, J. (2012). “They tell a story and there’s meaning behind that story”: Indigenous knowledge and young indigenous children’s literacy learning. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 12(4), 389–414.  https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798411417378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  34. Harris, C. B., Rasmussen, A. S., & Berntsen, D. (2014). The functions of autobiographical memory: An integrative approach. Memory, 5, 559–581.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  35. Haslam, C., Jetten, J., Haslam, S. A., Pugliese, C., & Tonks, J. (2011). ‘I remember therefore I am, and I am therefore I remember’: Exploring the contributions of episodic and semantic self-knowledge to strength of identity. British Journal of Psychology, 102, 184–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  36. Hayne, J., Gross, J., McNamee, S., Fitzgibbon, O., & Tustin, K. (2011). Episodic memory and episodic foresight in 3- and 5-year old children. Cognitive Development, 26, 343–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. Ho, M. Y., Chen, X., & Hoffman, E. (2012). Unpacking cultural variations in peak-experiences: Cross-cultural comparisons of early childhood recollection between Hong Kong and Brazil. Journal of Happiness Studies, 13, 247–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  38. Jalongo, M. R. (2015). Early childhood language arts (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.Google Scholar
  39. Josselson, R. (2000). Stability and change in early memories over 22 years: Themes, variations, and cadenzas. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 64, 462–481.Google Scholar
  40. Kasper, L. J., Alderson, R. M., & Hudec, K. L. (2012). Moderators of working memory deficits in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): A meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 32(7), 605–617.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2012.07.001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  41. Kingo, O. S., Berntsen, D., & Krøjgaard, P. (2013). Adults’ earliest memories as a function of age, gender, and education in a large stratified sample. Journal of Psychology and Aging, 28(3), 646–653.  https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  42. Larkina, M., & Bauer, M. J. (2010). The role of maternal verbal, affective, and behavioral support in preschool children’s independent and collaborative autobiographical memory reports. Cognitive Development, 25, 309–324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  43. Lewis, M., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (1979). Social cognition and the acquisition of self. New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  44. Lotherington, H., Holland, M., Sotoudeh, S., & Zentena, M. (2008). Project-based community language learning: Three narratives of multilingual story-telling in early childhood education. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 65(1), 125–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  45. Massey, S. (2013). From the reading rug to the play center: Enhancing vocabulary and comprehensive language skills by connecting storybook reading and guided play. Early Childhood Education Journal, 41(2), 125–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  46. McKeough, A., Bird, S., Tourigny, E., Romaine, A., Graham, S., Ottmann, J., & Jeary, J. (2008). Storytelling as a foundation to literacy development for Aboriginal children: Culturally and developmentally appropriate practices. Canadian Psychology, 49(2), 148–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  47. Meesook, K. (2003). Cultural and school-grade differences in Korean and white American children’s narrative skills. International Review of Education, 49, 177–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  48. Meier, D. (Ed.). (2009). Here’s the story: Using narrative to promote young children’s language and literacy learning. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
  49. Merriam, S. (1980). The concept and function of reminiscence: A review of research. Gerontologist, 20, 604–608.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  50. Morris, G., Baker-Ward, L., & Bauer, P. J. (2010). What remains of that day: The survival of children’s autobiographical memories across time. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24(4), 527–544.Google Scholar
  51. Narey, M. J. (2017). Multimodal perspectives of language, literacy, and learning in early childhood: The creative and critical “art” of making meaning. New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  52. Nelson, K. (1999). The psychological and social origins of autobiographical memory. In L. E. Berk (Ed.), Landscapes of development: An anthology of readings (pp. 97–107). Belmont: Wadsworth.Google Scholar
  53. Nelson, K. (2003a). Emergence of the cultural self. In R. Fivush & C. A. Haden (Eds.),. (2003) Autobiographical memory and the construction of a narrative self: Developmental and cultural perspectives (pp. 1–28). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
  54. Nelson, K. (2003b). Self and social functions: Individual autobiographical memory and collective narrative. Memory, 11(2), 125–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  55. Nelson, K. (2007). Young minds in social worlds: Experience, meaning and memory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  56. Nelson, K., & Fivush, R. (2004). The emergence of autobiographical memory: A social cultural developmental theory. Psychological Review, 111(2), 486–511.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  57. Nelson, K. E., Aksu-Koc, A., & Johnson, C. E. (Eds.). (2001). Children’s language: Developing narrative and discourse competence. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
  58. Nunez, P. L. (2016). The new science of consciousness: Exploring the complexity of brain, mind, and self. Amherst: Prometheus Books.Google Scholar
  59. Ornstein, P. A., Haden, C. A., & Coffman, J. L. (2013). Learning to remember: Mothers and teachers talking with children. In N. L. Stein & S. Raudenbush (Eds.), Developmental cognitive science goes to school (pp. 69–83). New York: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
  60. Park, E., & King, K. (2003). Cultural diversity and language socialization in the early years [Electronic version]. Digest, 3(13). Available: www.cal.org/resources/Digest/0313park.html
  61. Pathman, T., Doydum, A., & Bauer, P. J. (2013). Bringing order to life events: Memory for the temporal order of autobiographical events over an extended period in school-aged children and adults. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 115(2), 309–325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  62. Peterson, C., Wang, Q., & Hou, Y. (2009). “When I was little”: Childhood recollections in Chinese and European Canadian grade school children. Child Development, 80, 506–518.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  63. Peterson, C., Morris, G., Baker-Ward, L., & Flynn, S. (2013). Predicting which childhood memories persist: Contributions of memory characteristics. Developmental Psychology, 50, 439–448.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  64. Rainville, K. N., & Gordh, B. (2016). Toward a narrative classroom: Storytelling, media, and literacy. Young Children, 71(4), 76–81.Google Scholar
  65. Reese, E., & Farrant, K. (2003). Social origins of reminiscing. In R. Fivush & C. A. Haden (Eds.), Autobiographical memory and the construction of a narrative self: Developmental and cultural perspectives (pp. 29–48). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
  66. Reese, E., & Newcombe, R. (2007). Training mothers in elaborative reminiscing enhances children’s autobiographical memory and narrative. Child Development, 78, 1153–1170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  67. Reese, E., Haden, C. A., Baker-Ward, L., Bauer, P., Fivush, R., & Ornstein, P. A. (2011). Coherence of personal narratives across the lifespan: A multidimensional model and coding method. Journal of Cognition and Development, 12(4), 424–462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  68. Richmond, J., & Nelson, C. A. (2007). Accounting for a change in declarative memory: A cognitive neuroscience perspective. Developmental Review, 27(3), 349–373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  69. Riojas-Cortez, M., Flores, B. B., Smith, H., & Clark, E. R. (2003). Cuentame un cuento [tell me a story]: Bridging family literacy traditions with school literacy. Language Arts, 81, 62–71.Google Scholar
  70. Rouse, J. (1978). The completed gesture: Myth, character and education. Ringwood: Skyline Books.Google Scholar
  71. Rovee-Collier, C. K., & Hayne, H. (2000). Memory in infancy and early childhood. In C. K. Rovee-Collier, H. Hayne, E. Tulving, & F. Craik (Eds.), Handbook of memory (pp. 267–282). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
  72. Rubin, D. C., Schrauf, R. W., & Greenberg, D. L. (2003). Belief and recollection of autobiographical memory. Memory & Cognition, 31, 667–901.Google Scholar
  73. Scherman, A. Z., Salgado, S., Shao, Z., & Berntsen, D. (2015). Event centrality of positive and negative autobiographical memories to identity and life story across cultures. Memory, 23(8), 1152–1171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  74. Scherman, A. Z., Salgado, S., Shao, Z., & Berntsen, D. (2017). Life script events and autobiographical memories of important life story events in Mexico, Greenland, China, and Denmark. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 6(1), 60–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  75. Schneider, W. (2000). Research on memory development: Historical trends and current themes. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 24, 407–420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  76. Schröder, L., Kärtner, J., Keller, H., & Chaudhary, N. (2012). Sticking out and fitting in: Culture-specific predictors of 3-year-olds’ autobiographical memories during joint reminiscing. Infant Behavior & Development, 35(4), 627–634.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  77. Schwartz, B. L. (2017). Memory: Foundations and applications (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
  78. Slotnick, S. D. (2017). Cognitive neuroscience of memory. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  79. Stadler, M., & Ward, G. (2005). Supporting the narrative development of young children. Early Childhood Education Journal, 33(2), 73–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  80. Tulving, E. (2002). Episodic memory: From mind to brain. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 1–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  81. Tulving, E. (2005). Episodic memory and autonoesis: Uniquely human? In H. S. Terrace & J. Metcalfe (Eds.), The missing link in cognition: Self-knowing consciousness in man and animals (pp. 3–56). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
  82. Visu-Petra, L., Cheie, L., & Benga, O. (2008). Short-term memory performance and metamemory judgments in preschool and early school-age children: A quantitative and qualitative analysis. Cognitie, Creier, Comportament/Cognition, Brain, Behavior, 12(1), 71–101.Google Scholar
  83. Walls, R. T., Sperling, R. A., & Weber, K. D. (2001). Autobiographical memory of school. Journal of Educational Research, 95, 116–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  84. Wang, Q., & Peterson, C. (2014). Your earliest memory may be earlier than you think: Prospective studies of children’s dating of earliest childhood memories. Developmental Psychology, 50, 1680–1686.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  85. Watson, L. A., & Bernstsen, D. (2015). Clinical perspectives on autobiographical memory. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  86. Wells, C., Morrison, C. M., & Conway, M. A. (2014). Adult recollections of childhood memories: What details can be recalled? The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 67, 1249–1261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  87. Wilson, A. E., & Ross, M. (2003). The identity function of autobiographical memory: Time is on our side. Memory, 11(2), 137–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  88. Wolfe, M. W., & Woodwyk, J. M. (2010). Processing and memory of information presented in narrative or expository texts. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(3), 341–362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Indiana University of PennsylvaniaIndianaUSA

Personalised recommendations

Cite chapter

Buy options