Childhood Memory

Past studies have independently shown associations of working memory and degree of handedness with episodic memory retrieval. The current study takes a step ahead by examining whether handedness and working memory independently predict episodic memory. In agreement with past studies, there was an inconsistent-handed advantage for episodic memory; however, this advantage was absent for working memory tasks. Furthermore, regression analyses showed handedness, and complex working memory predicted episodic memory performance at different times. Results are discussed in light of theories of episodic memory and hemispheric interaction.

Le climat de l’Algérie des années quatre-vingt-dix était chaotique sur la scène politique,
sociale et littéraire. L’extrémisme semait la terreur, le pays soudainement baigné dans le sang.
Une violence sans précédent, où une seule question résonnait : qui tue qui ?
Comment expliquer ce drame, lui donner un sens ? Cette longue nuit qui ne veut pas voir le
jour. Le bilan était lourd, la première cible était des intellectuels algériens, qu’ils soient,
journalistes, instituteurs, acteurs, chanteurs ou écrivains. Leur mort a fait couler de l’encre, ils
ne peuvent se taire, des auteurs comme Rachid Boujedra, Yasmina Khadra ou encore Tahar
Djaout-lui-même assassiné durant ces années de braise étaient pris par l’urgence de l’écriture,
du dire. Dans notre travail, nous nous intéresserons à la production féminine, on a choisi Assia
Djebar, elle était militante durant la guerre de libération, elle n’a pas prédit dans ses Alouettes
naïves, un tel sort pour un jeune pays qui vient juste d’avoir son indépendance.
Son oeuvre Le Blanc de l’Algérie paru aux éditions Albin Michel en 1995, date qui coïncide
avec ce bouleversement social. Le blanc couleur de bonheur, mais aussi de malheur, de deuil.
Une oeuvre qui marque un arrêt, dans l’histoire où la trajectoire de l’Algérie à dévier, a été
détournée vers l’inconnu, le blanc couleur de l’oubli de l’amnésie.

Autobiographical memory (AM) has been studied extensively in different psychiatric disorders. However, less is known about AM in bipolar disorder (BD). Aim of the present study was to investigate BD patients' ability to recall episodic and semantic autobiographical memories after controlling for the effect of other possible neurocognitive deficits. Participants included 30 clinically remitted outpatients with BD type I and 30 healthy controls, matched for age, gender and educational level. Autobiographical memory was examined by the Questionnaire of Autobiographical Memory. Premorbid intellectual functioning, verbal memory, verbal fluency, attention and working memory were also assessed. Bipolar patients were impaired in both episodic and semantic AM, compared with healthy individuals. Deficits involved recall of memories from childhood-adolescence, early adulthood and recent life. Additionally, patients were impaired in verbal memory compared with controls. Differences between study groups in both episodic and semantic AM remained significant even after controlling for the effect of verbal memory deficits. Remitted BD-I patients showed deficits in recalling personal episodic memories and facts dating to three different life periods. These deficits were independent of patients' lower verbal memory performance. Additional research is required to gain a better understanding of the pattern and the mechanisms underlying AM impairment in BD.

The aim of the present research was to explore the subjective rating of emotional intensity during the recall of memory-related emotions. 41 participants retrieved two different types of autobiographical memory -i.e., a self-defining memory and an earliest childhood memory -and rated the intensity of the emotions experienced during the recall of each memory (anger, sadness, fear, happiness, shame and guilt). The latency and duration times of the narratives were also collected. Self-defining memories seemed to be perceived as more intense compared to earliest childhood memories, confirming the strong emotional charge that characterizes these types of memories. Longer duration times of the narratives were also observed for self-defining memories compared to earliest childhood memories. These results lend more support to differences between self-defining and early childhood memories. They also suggest that emotional experiences associated with self-relevant memories constitute the key to the self-and other-understanding in everyday meaningful interactions as well as in a clinical therapeutic setting.

Phenomenology is a critical component of autobiographical memory retrieval; it reflects both (a) memory-specific features and (b) stable individual differences. Few studies have tested phenomenology longitudinally. The present work examined the continuity of memory phenomenology in a sample of Italians adults (N = 105) over a 4-week period. Participants retrieved two 'key' personal memories, a Turning Point and an Early Childhood Memory, rated the phenomenology of each memory, and completed measures of personality, psychological distress and subjective well-being. Phenomenological ratings were moderately stable over time (median correlation >.40), regardless of memory content. Personality traits, psychological distress and well-being were associated with phenomenology cross-sectionally and with changes in phenomenology over time. These results suggest that how individuals re-experience their most important personal memories is relatively consistent over time and shaped by both trait and state aspects of psychological functioning.

Building upon the existing literature on emotional memory, the present review examines emerging evidence from brain imaging investigations regarding four research directions: (1) Social Emotional Memory, (2) The Role of Emotion Regulation in the Impact of Emotion on Memory, (3) The Impact of Emotion on Associative or Relational Memory, and (4) The Role of Individual Differences in Emotional Memory. Across these four domains, available evidence demonstrates that emotion- and memory-related medial temporal lobe brain regions (amygdala and hippocampus, respectively), together with prefrontal cortical regions, play a pivotal role during both encoding and retrieval of emotional episodic memories. This evidence sheds light on the neural mechanisms of emotional memories in healthy functioning, and has important implications for understanding clinical conditions that are associated with negative affective biases in encoding and retrieving emotional memories.

Autobiographical memory deficits are known in depression. The temporal distribution thereof across periods of life has rarely been considered yet. Autobiographical memories for 5 life periods were investigated in 27 depressed in-patients and compared to 31 matched healthy controls using the Bielefelder Autobiographisches Gedächtnis Inventar. Depressed patients reported significantly less details in memories dating from childhood to 30 years, correlating with severity of depression. Memories from childhood and recent periods were less positive in depressed patients. Thus, we found a distinct pattern of autobiographical memory deficits in depressed patients. Possible etiological factors, however, need further investigations.

According to postcolonial and feminist theorists, women are suppressed and depressed by the colonial power and patriarchy and this has not merely happened once in a blue moon but a progressive process even after the independence in many countries especially in America. It is widely seen that women are oppressed and subjugated in the name of racism, colorism, gender difference. The current article deals with such inequalities in society especially in America in the light of the novel "God help the Child (2015)" by Tony Morrison. In the novel, the protagonist named Bride faces such issues and complexities throughout her life starting from her childhood. When she opens her eyes in her home the element of otherness can be vividly seen in the character of Bride, as she was rejected by her parents because of her dark skin and she was deprived of her basic rights in the name of colorism and racism.

This study investigated the relationship between individual differences in attachment and the free recall of childhood memories. Specifically, it focuses on how attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance, using the Experiences in Close Relationship Scale self-report, relate to the affective quality and the presence of caregivers in memories from childhood. Participants were 79 undergraduate and masters students attending a northeast university. Participants completed a memory task designed to elicit freely recalled memories from childhood. They then rated the affective valence (positive/negative) and intensity of each memory, and identified memories in which caretakers were present. Attachment avoidance was related to recalling more negative memories involving caretakers and was negatively related to the average intensity of memories involving caretakers. The results support and extend previous research suggesting that affect regulation strategies employed by individuals high in attachment anxiety and high in attachment avoidance are linked to differences in how information about the past is recalled.

The contemporary study of memory has greatly benefited from recent findings in neuroscience and psychology showing that memory is a highly flexible, contextualized and yet, reliable enough system, composed of different types of functions that contribute to the formation of a personal perspective that balances accuracy and personal relevance. How exactly is this balance achieved and what is the contribution of society, language and culture in its development? Although this paper discusses some of the recent findings on memory, its main focus is on evaluating them within a larger perspective. Memory has been a central issue in the humanities, literature, and the history of psychology. The dynamics of inner speech and narrative, analyzed from a theoretical and historical point of view, provide key insights for the interpretation of contemporary findings in the light of previous theories of memory, consciousness, and the influence of language on both. Collective memory, different forms of memory-monitoring, and the interaction between episodic and autobiographical memory are discussed. The main proposal of the paper is that episodic memory plays an intermediary role between collective and autobiographical memory. Previous views on memory suppression and intrusion are analyzed in the context of such intermediation.

SummaryPrevious crashing memory studies have shown that adults can be led to believe they witnessed video footage of news events for which no video footage actually exists. The current study is the first to investigate adults' tendency to report memories of viewing footage that took place when they were children: the plane crash in Pennsylvania on 11 September 2001. We found that in a computer questionnaire, 33% indicated a false memory with at least one false detail. In a more detailed face‐to‐face interview, only 13% of the group described a detailed false memory. Familiarity with the news story, fantasy proneness, alcohol use, and frequency of negative emotions after 9/11 were all associated with a Persistent False Memory. Participants who had received prior suggestion were more likely to later report false memories in the subsequent interview. We discuss our novel results and the importance of the paradigm.Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Gilbert and colleagues are to be commended for drawing our attention to the need for a sounder empirical basis, and for more careful reasoning, in the context of the neuroethics debate on Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) and its potential impact on the dimensions of personality, identity, agency, authenticity, autonomy and self (PIAAAS). While acknowledging this, this extended commentary critically examines their claim that the real-world relevance of the conclusions drawn in the neuroethics literature is threatened by the fact that the concepts at the center of the discussion have Bweak empirical grounding^. First, I show that while some possible understandings of multifaceted concepts like identity, authenticity and autonomy may indeed be unsuitable for a purely empirical inquiry, this is not the case of all of them. Secondly, I call into question the authors' apparent suggestion that reliance on constructs involving an irreducibly normative dimension makes for a suboptimal state of affairs, and that they should ideally be replaced with substitutes taken from the language of neuroscience or social science in order to ensure an adequate empirical grounding for the debate. Such a suggestion, I argue, commits the authors to a controver-sial reductionist view in metaethics that the valid empirical concerns they raise in the rest of their article do not presuppose, and which could potentially us lead to lose sight of important ethical considerations.

Building upon the existing literature on emotional memory, the present review examines emerging evidence from brain imaging investigations regarding four research directions: (1) Social Emotional Memory, (2) The Role of Emotion Regulation in the Impact of Emotion on Memory, (3) The Impact of Emotion on Associative or Relational Memory, and (4) The Role of Individual Differences in Emotional Memory. Across these four domains, available evidence demonstrates that emotion- and memory-related medial temporal lobe brain regions (amygdala and hippocampus, respectively), together with prefrontal cortical regions, play a pivotal role during both encoding and retrieval of emotional episodic memories. This evidence sheds light on the neural mechanisms of emotional memories in healthy functioning, and has important implications for understanding clinical conditions that are associated with negative affective biases in encoding and retrieving emotional memories.

C urrent work on age-related changes in memory rests on evidence from previous research that strongly suggests that memory is not a single entity that either works well or does not. Rather, aging and some other conditions appear to have a more detrimental effect on some types of memory than on others. One way to organize different types of memory is the systems view advanced by Tulving and his colleagues. Comprising 5 major memory systems with different charac-teristics and dealing with different types of information that are mediated by different regions in the brain and are differentially vulnerable to aging, these systems are procedural memory, the perceptual representational systems, working memory, semantic memory, and episodic memory. Procedural memory is the system or systems that mediate the acquisition and later performance of cognitive and motor skills. The perceptual representational systems encode and retain

Self-referential processing relies mainly on the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and enhances memory encoding (i.e., Self-Reference Effect, SRE) as it improves the accuracy and richness of remembering in both young and older adults. However, studies on agerelated changes in the neural correlates of the SRE on the subjective (i.e., autonoetic consciousness) and the objective (i.e., source memory) qualitative features of episodic memory are lacking. In the present fMRI study, we compared the effects of a self-related (semantic autobiographical memory task) and a non self-related (general semantic memory task) encoding condition on subsequent episodic memory retrieval. We investigated encoding-related activity during each condition in two groups of 19 younger and 16 older adults. Behaviorally, the SRE improved subjective memory performance in both groups but objective memory only in young adults. At the neural level, a direct comparison between self-related and non self-related conditions revealed that SRE mainly activated the cortical midline system, especially the MPFC, in both groups. Additionally, in older adults and regardless of the condition, greater activity was found in a fronto-parietal network. Overall, correlations were noted between source memory performance and activity in the MPFC (irrespective of age) and visual areas (mediated by age). Thus, the present findings expand evidence of the role of the MPFC in self-referential processing in the context of source memory benefit in both young and older adults using incidental encoding via semantic autobiographical memory. However, our finding suggests that its role is less effective in aging.

In this paper we discuss several aspects of the development of the memory function in children. We examine research contributions on the ability of children to collect and tell memories, we discuss the differences between traumatic and non-traumatic memories and how early experiences influence the memory processes. Several studies suggest that memory abilities develop within a relational context in which early experiences, relational experiences, especially with parents, and cognitive processes interact with each other in order to expand and increase the memory processes. A relational framework is also essential in order to formulate and process traumatic memories.   Finally we discuss implications in child psychotherapy.

The purpose of this study is to survey the ability of retrieving specific memory materials from autobiographical memory among PTSD veterans' young children. Method: The sample contains 131 high school students in 3 groups: PTSD veterans' young children (n=31) as the target group, young children of veterans without PTSD (n=50), and young children of healthy persons (n=50), as comparison groups. Participants in all three groups are approximately matched in age, gender and academic achievement. Research instruments included: Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y) and Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT). Data analysis is done by the method of descriptive statistics, One Way Analysis of Variance, and Scheffe Fallow-up Test. Results: The results in dicate that PTSD veterans' children have lower performance in autobiographical memory task than healthy persons' children. In other words, PTSD veterans' children have lower ability for retrieving specific autobiographical memory materials from memory and retrieve less specific memories from memory. The research also indicates that the state of depression and anxiety in PTSD veterans' children is higher than healthy persons' children, while in these two components (autobiographical memory and anxiety) there are no significant differences between PTSD veterans' children and non-PTSD veterans' children. However, in the depression component there is a significant difference between them. Conclusion: Research findings have shown that levels of anxiety in non-PTSD veterans' children were lower than healthy persons' children, but there was no significant difference between them in depression.

Autobiographical memory in amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) is characterized by impaired retrieval of episodic memories, but relatively preserved personal semantic knowledge. This study aimed to identify (via FDG‐PET) the neural substrates of impaired episodic specificity of autobiographical memories in 35 aMCI patients compared with 24 healthy elderly controls. Significant correlations between regional cerebral activity and the proportion of episodic details in autobiographical memories from two life periods were found in specific regions of an autobiographical brain network. In aMCI patients, more than in controls, specifically episodic memories from early adulthood were associated with metabolic activity in the cuneus and in parietal regions. We hypothesized that variable retrieval of episodic autobiographical memories in our aMCI patients would be related to their variable capacity to reactivate specific sensory‐perceptual and contextual details of early adulthood event...

We report a case of psychogenic amnesia and examine the relationships between autobiographical memory impairment, the self, and ability to imagine the future. Case study JH, a 60 year old male, experienced a 6 year period of pervasive psychogenic amnesia covering all life events from childhood to the age of 53. JH was tested during his amnesic period and again following hypnotherapy and the recovery of his memories. JH's amnesia corresponded with deficits in self-knowledge and imagining the future. Results are discussed with reference to models of self and memory and processes involving remembering and imagining.

This paper examines how Toni Morrison’s God Help the Child is structured around the paradox of memory; that is, the need to remember and to disremember the past. On the one hand, Bride has to relive her memory in order to confess her lies and in order to find her authentic self. On the other hand, Booker has to forget the past in order to conduct an active life. Memory centralizes Booker as the African voice when he relates the story of his brother’s abuse, that is to say, the abuse of the African culture. But, at the same time, it decentralizes him from the future projects he desires to achieve since he spends most of his time lamenting the loss of his brother. Bride, at first, believes that memory is the worst thing about healing, but, then, she realizes the reverse. By remembering the past, Bride reaches recovery. She becomes the mother figure of her Black community who wears the earrings of wisdom, spirituality and culture. Keywords: Toni Morrison, God Help the Child, the parado...

This special issue of Cognitive Development focuses on recent research examining multiple aspects of autobiographical memory, as well as its antecedents and consequences. It brings together leading researchers who have been investigating developing relations between autobiographical memory and other socio-emotional and cognitive developments. Articles in the collection take the study of the development of autobiographical memory well beyond the question of whether children remember the significant events of their lives to examine a number of potential determinants of remembering, including the characteristics of the child, the nature of the to-be-remembered event or experience, and both the "local" (socio-emotional) and more "global" (cultural) context of remembering. The work reported in the issue also examines the potential consequences of autobiographical memories for development of a personal or self-identity, family relationships, and emotional health and well-being.

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Previous studies have reported that young participants typically date events that they remember, but no longer believe they experienced, to the period of childhood. The present study investigated whether participants aged between 40 and 79 years dated events related to relinquished memories to the period of childhood, as do younger people, or whether they dated such events to a period later in life. The study also compared believed and nonbelieved memories with respect to memory perspective (1st vs 3rd person perspective). Results indicated that the majority of middle-aged and older people dated nonbelieved memories to the period of childhood (median age = 8 years). No correlation was found between the participants' current age and their age at the time the nonbelieved event occurred. In addition, results showed that believed memories were more likely to be retrieved from a 1st person perspective than were nonbelieved memories.

The age distribution of nonbelieved memories (NBMs) reported by young and older adults typically reflects a large proportion of events dated to childhood. The present study aimed to further investigate the age of origin of NBMs by using instructions that include an NBM related to adulthood. Participants aged from 40 to 80 years were asked to describe an NBM, to explain why they had stopped believing their memory, and to rate its phenomenal characteristics. Participants also described and rated an age-matched believed memory (BM). The results revealed a similar proportion of nonbelieved events experienced in childhood and adulthood, thus calling into question the hypothesis that NBMs are mainly related to childhood events. We also found that NBMs might emerge for different reasons depending on the time of events. Additional analyses indicated that, overall, the influence of temporal distance on the ratings of phenomenal characteristics was similar for BMs and NBMs.

Previous studies have reported that young participants typically date events that they remember, but no longer believe they experienced, to the period of childhood. The present study investigated whether participants aged between 40 and 79 years dated events related to relinquished memories to the period of childhood, as do younger people, or whether they dated such events to a period later in life. The study also compared believed and nonbelieved memories with respect to memory perspective (1st vs 3rd person perspective). Results indicated that the majority of middle-aged and older people dated nonbelieved memories to the period of childhood (median age = 8 years). No correlation was found between the participants' current age and their age at the time the nonbelieved event occurred. In addition, results showed that believed memories were more likely to be retrieved from a 1st person perspective than were nonbelieved memories.

Working memory is the mental ability to temporarily store and manipulate information. Its functioning is distinct from the vast storage capacity of long-term memory and is crucial for optimal learning and development. There is considerable research on several theoretical aspects of working memory. Far less research has explored the application of such theory in order to understand how children perform in educational settings and to support and improve their academic performance. In this paper, five key aspects regarding working memory are considered and their implications for early childhood development, learning and education are discussed. These aspects include the role of the different components of working memory in early childhood learning, ways in which working memory is assessed in children, how verbal and visual working memory develop, how working memory difficulties manifest in children, and ways in which working memory can be improved.

The study investigated whether theoretical causative relations among declining cognitive abilities during adulthood and old age conform to a literal reversal of improving cognitive development during childhood. Children aged 8-14 years (n = 240) and adults aged 18-87 (n = 238) completed the same battery of psychometric tests, which defined latent traits for processing speed, working memory, and reasoning ability. Speeded performance improved during childhood and slowed across the adult range. Childhood performance was well described by a developmental cascade, whereby increasing chronological age is accompanied by faster processing speed, which influences improved working memory, which in turn influences improving reasoning ability. However, although adult performance resembled a cascade with diminishing reasoning ability mediated by processing speed and working memory, this was not a mirror image of the cascade for children. The main difference with adults was a direct causal path between age and working memory. Post hoc analysis located this among adults aged 55 years and over. This suggests that, whereas childhood cognitive development is substantially mediated by processing speed, declining reasoning ability in old age is influenced by slower processing speed but also by age-related change(s) influencing working memory that are independent from processing speed.

Recent studies revealed that children with developmental amnesia acquired new semantic information. However, they failed to investigate the growth of such knowledge during childhood, and they did not bring evidence concerning the putative role of residual episodic memory in semantic acquisition. This prospective study sought to clarify this issue by assessing both semantic and episodic memory in two amnesic children (RH and KF) with different neuropsychological profiles. We thus applied errorless semantic learning and vanishing cues methods, together with assessments of episodic memory using original recognition tasks within the same protocol. Results demonstrated learning and long-lasting maintenance of multicomponent concepts (comprising labels, categories and features) in both amnesic children. Importantly, episodic memory assessments revealed differential residual abilities in these children, which may account for their respective profiles of semantic acquisition. Thus, RH, who demonstrated residual episodic abilities, acquired normally. However, the learning of KF, who had a massive impairment of episodic memory, remained slower than her controls. In conclusion, even though an episodic impairment may slacken new semantic learning, our research provides new evidence for the de novo acquisition of semantic concepts in childhood amnesic syndrome and strengthens the idea that semantic learning can occur without any recruitment of episodic memory.

The purpose of this study is to survey the ability of retrieving specific memory materials from autobiographical memory among PTSD veterans' young children. Method: The sample contains 131 high school students in 3 groups: PTSD veterans' young children (n=31) as the target group, young children of veterans without PTSD (n=50), and young children of healthy persons (n=50), as comparison groups. Participants in all three groups are approximately matched in age, gender and academic achievement. Research instruments included: Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y) and Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT). Data analysis is done by the method of descriptive statistics, One Way Analysis of Variance, and Scheffe Fallow-up Test. Results: The results in dicate that PTSD veterans' children have lower performance in autobiographical memory task than healthy persons' children. In other words, PTSD veterans' children have lower ability for retrieving specific autobiographical memory materials from memory and retrieve less specific memories from memory. The research also indicates that the state of depression and anxiety in PTSD veterans' children is higher than healthy persons' children, while in these two components (autobiographical memory and anxiety) there are no significant differences between PTSD veterans' children and non-PTSD veterans' children. However, in the depression component there is a significant difference between them. Conclusion: Research findings have shown that levels of anxiety in non-PTSD veterans' children were lower than healthy persons' children, but there was no significant difference between them in depression.

Autobiographical memory is fundamental to the process of self-construction. Therefore, the possibility of modifying autobiographical memories, in particular with memory-modulation and memory-erasing, is a very important topic both from the theoretical and from the practical point of view. The aim of this paper is to illustrate the state of the art of some of the most promising areas of memory-modulation and memory-erasing, considering how they can affect the self and the overall balance of the "self and autobiographical memory" system. Indeed, different conceptualizations of the self and of personal identity in relation to autobiographical memory are what makes memory-modulation and memory-erasing more or less desirable. Because of the current limitations (both practical and ethical) to interventions on memory, I can only sketch some hypotheses. However, it can be argued that the choice to mitigate painful memories (or edit memories for other reasons) is somehow problematic, from an ethical point of view, according to some of the theories of the self and personal identity in relation to autobiographical memory, in particular for the so-called narrative theories of personal identity, chosen here as the main case of study. Other conceptualizations of the "self and autobiographical memory" system, namely the constructivist theories, do not have this sort of critical concerns. However, many theories rely on normative (and not empirical) conceptions of the self: for them, the actions aimed at mitigating or removing specific (negative) memories can be seen either as an improvement or as a depletion or impairment of the self.

Maternal reminiscing and remembering has a profound influence on the development of children's autobiographical remembering skills. The current study investigated the relationships between maternal memory specificity, maternal reminiscing and child memory specificity. Participants consisted of 40 mother-child dyads. Children's age ranged between 3.5 and 6 years. Mothers and children participated in individual assessments of autobiographical memory specificity. Dyads participated in a joint reminiscing task about three past emotional (happy, sad, stressful) events. A positive moderate association was found between maternal autobiographical memory specificity and child autobiographical memory specificity. Maternal autobiographical memory specificity was significantly correlated with mothers' focus on the task, involvement and reciprocity, resolution of negative feelings, and structuring of narratives in the mother-child reminiscing task. Moderate positive associations were found between maternal focus and structuring and child memory specificity. There was no evidence to suggest maternal elaborative reminiscing style was significantly positively correlated with mother or child memory specificity. Finally, there was support for an indirect pathway between maternal memory specificity and child memory specificity through quality of support and guidance provided by the mother in maternal reminiscing. Theoretical and clinical implications are considered.

Previous research confirms the existence of marked age differences in aspects of memory performance that include the ability to recount details of past experiences and the use of effective strategies when deliberately working to remember and then later recall information. Variations in the development of autobiographical memory skills in children have been linked to differences in the ways in which mothers reminisce with their young children about jointly experienced events, such that children of high elaborative mothers contribute more memory information in conversations about the past with their mothers and with other conversational partners than do their peers with low elaborative mothers (Fivush, Haden, & Reese, 2006). Associations among the development of different memory skills are suspected, but it is not yet fully understood how children's abilities to talk about their past are linked to their use of deliberate strategies to remember information (Haden, Ornstein, Eckerma...

Data from a large-scale, longitudinal research study with an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample were utilized to explore linkages between maternal elaborative conversational style and the development of children's autobiographical and deliberate memory. Assessments were made when the children were 3, 5, and 6 years of age, and the results reveal concurrent and longitudinal linkages between maternal conversational style in a mother-child reminiscing task and children's autobiographical memory performance. Maternal conversational style while reminiscing was also significantly related to children's strategic behaviors and recall in two deliberate memory tasks, both concurrently and longitudinally. Results from this examination replicate and extend what is known about the linkages between maternal conversational style, children's abilities to talk about previous experiences, and children's deliberate memory skills as they transition from the preschool to early elementary school years.

The polio epidemics of the 1940s and 1950s created a well-known cultural story of 'triumph over adversity' and lesser known private memories, but both were forgotten after the vaccine was discovered. Children were encouraged to get on with it, and not talk about polio or their disabilities. In my research on the narratives of people who had polio and are now looking back at the experience because they have new symptoms, childhood memories are being re-explored. In this paper, I will compare the early memories of two women: one who was searching for a memory which would explain a feeling she was left with from her polio experience, and another who told a story of a broken doll which she came to understand long after our interview. Both women are trying to express the feeling that they were not understood or listened to as children. Kirmayer (1996) suggests the term 'landscapes of memory' to describe the different social and personal influences that shape the memories of different types of trauma such as, in his study, the Holocaust and child abuse. Polio experiences were influenced by the cultural and rehabilitation ethic of hard work, silent stoicism, and achievement, but personal memories were often of children isolated from their families, whose stories no one wanted to hear.

The exploration of intra-racial discrimination and its implications has always been at the heart of the literary works of African American writers. Toni Morrison is one of those African American writers who have explored intricate race issues, including racism, intra-racial discrimination, as well as questions of identity and self-image. This paper seeks to investigate Toni Morrison's portrayal of intraracial discrimination in God Help the Child and its profound repercussions on the self-perception, identity formation, and overall well-being of African American people, revealing the complex interplay between intra-racial discrimination and the broader framework of racism in America. Morrison's God Help the Child explores the intricacies of internalized racism catalyzed by dominant cultural discourse, which marginalizes African American's voices, and views their experiences through a prism that reinforces white cultural values and norms. Over centuries, African Americans have been subjected to many forms of racial discrimination, marginalization, oppression, and stereotyping, which have permeated into various aspects of their lives, shaping their perceptions of themselves and their identities. Caught in this pernicious, vicious circle of negative stereotypes and uprooted from their own identities, they began to question their capabilities, intelligence, attractiveness and worthiness in society. Consequently, they engaged in intra-racial discrimination, blindly eroding the cohesion and social fabric of their own community.

Adults’ reports of earliest autobiographical memories from before the age of 3 are typically scarce. However, recent research suggests that the age range of this childhood amnesia is flexible when participant instructions provide a context in which earlier or later ages of childhood events are plausible (Kingo et al., 2013). This age manipulation may be more or less effective depending on the type of memories, i.e., event memories that describe a specific event, or fragments / snapshots that describe elements of a past event. One earlier study showed that after reading an early age example, the age in event memories was younger than after a late age example, whereas this difference was less pronounced in snapshot memories (Wessel et al., 2019). The present aim was to examine the malleability of the age in earliest childhood memories and replicate this age manipulation by memory type interaction as well as the overall effects of the age manipulation demonstrated earlier (Wessel et al...

This pilot study provides the first empirical test of the concept of "Angels in the Nursery" by examining whether childhood memories of benevolent caregiving experiences protect against heightened levels of psychopathology in high-risk mothers. The study hypothesized that (a) elaborated childhood memories of feeling loved by a caregiver ("angel memories") would moderate adulthood posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in mothers with childhood maltreatment histories, and (b) spontaneous traumatic intrusions ("ghost memories") would mediate childhood maltreatment and adulthood PTSD symptoms. Participants were 54 mothers (M = 32.79 years, SD = 8.91; 59.2% African American, 13.0% Caucasian, 5.6% Latina, 22.2% biracial/multiracial) who completed standardized assessments of childhood maltreatment and adulthood PTSD symptoms, and a novel instrument, the Angels in the Nursery Interview ("Angels Interview," Van Horn, Lieberman, & Harris, 2008). Results showed that angel memories significantly moderated childhood maltreatment and adulthood PTSD symptoms, consistent with a protective effect. Higher levels of ghost memories during the Angels Interview were significantly associated with more extensive childhood maltreatment, but did not mediate maltreatment and PTSD symptoms. Findings indicate that the Angels Interview can identify pathogenic intrusions rooted in childhood maltreatment and protective factors to promote maternal mental health and buffer the intergenerational transmission of trauma.

The picture book, Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge (1984) by Mem Fox and Julie Vivas tells the story of a young boy with a rather long name (shortened by his family to Wilfrid Gordon for convenience) who visits the elderly residents of an old people's home next door to his own house. When his father mentions one day that Wilfrid Gordon's favourite resident, Miss Nancy, has lost her memory, the young boy asks a question which has occupied much scholarly endeavour, particularly over the last several decades-"What's a memory?". He receives a variety of answers including something you remember, something that makes you cry or laugh, something from long ago, and something as precious as gold. Winter (2012, 3) contends that the stories we tell about our personal past define who we are in the present. Miss Nancy cannot recall her past and is therefore 'lost' in the present. Wilfrid Gordon, perhaps sensing this, decides to find some memories for Miss Nancy. He goes home and gathers together a selection of mementoes from his own, albeit short, past. As Wilfrid Gordon shows each object or 'relic' to Miss Nancy they activate a response in the elderly resident and she appears to remember incidents from her youth such as a tram ride to the beach, playing with her younger sister, and waving her big brother off to a war from which he never returned. Both Wilfrid Gordon and Miss Nancy are delighted that her memory has been 'found' again. Yet, Jose van Dijck (2004, 359), in another context, claims that memory objects are representations of our former selves. The objects Wilfrid Gordon has