The current study assessed whether the accuracy of children’s self-reports of
events experienced differs as a function of age and how the question is asked. Additional
factors like metamemory and distractibility were assessed. Primary-school students (M=
7.7 years) and middle-school students (M = 9.7 years) completed two different versions
of an event frequency measure, two times, at one week intervals. In one of the measures
of event frequency, no memory prompts were provided (uncued questionnaire condition),
while in the other measure, recall categories for aiding recollections were provided (cued
questionnaire condition). Participants’ self-reported event frequencies for the cued and
uncued questionnaires were compared with trained observers’ event frequencies for the
cued and uncued conditions. Older children reported event frequency more accurately
than younger participants. Participants also reported events with greater accuracy with
the aid of memory prompts than without, an effect that was especially strong among the
younger children. Neither metamemory nor distractibility was accountable for the differences within age groups. The findings suggest that age-related improvements in
accuracy of event frequency across the transition into adolescence may, in part, be due to
improvements in the ability to recall and recount those events in the absence of memory
cues. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fau.edu/oai:fau.digital.flvc.org:fau_13660 |
| Contributors | Dirghangi, Shrija R. (author), Laursen, Brett (Thesis advisor), Florida Atlantic University (Degree grantor), Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology |
| Publisher | Florida Atlantic University |
| Source Sets | Florida Atlantic University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, Text |
| Format | 78 p., application/pdf |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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