Work

Learning From Others: The Effects of Agency on Event Memory in Young Children

Year: 2019

Type: article

Abstract: Little is known about the influence of social context on children's event memory. Across four studies, we examined whether learning that could occur in the absence of a person was more robust when a person was present. Three-year-old children (N = 125) viewed sequential events that either included or excluded an acting agent. In Experiment 1, children who viewed an agent recalled more than children who did not. Experiments 2a and 2b utilized an eye tracker to demonstrate this effect was not due to differences in attention. Experiment 3 used a combined behavioral and event-related potential paradigm to show that condition effects were present in memory-related components. These converging results indicate a particular role for social knowledge in supporting memory for events.

Source: Child Development

DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13303

Authors: Lauren H Howard, Tracy Riggins, Amanda L Woodward

Institutions: Franklin & Marshall College, University of Maryland, College Park, University of Chicago

Language: English

Topic: Child and Animal Learning Development

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Awards: G1593094617, G2104949562, G234935397, G2708253844