It's all about location, location, location: children's memory for the "where" of personally experienced events

Abstract

Episodic memory is defined as the ability to recall specific past events located in a particular time and place. Over the preschool and into the school years, there are clear developmental changes in memory for when events took place. In contrast, little is known about developmental changes in memory for where events were experienced. In the current research, we tested 4-, 6-, and 8-year-old children's memories for specific laboratory events, each of which was experienced in a unique location. We also tested the children's memories for the conjunction of the events and their locations. Age-related differences were observed in all three types of memory (event, location, and conjunction of event and location), with the most pronounced differences being in memory for conjunctions of events and their locations. The results have implications for our understanding of the development of episodic memory, including suggestions of protracted development of the ability to contextualize events in their spatial locations.

Figure 1

Schematic of 15′ × 18′ testing space (approximately 270 square feet).

Figure 2

Number correct for recall of events, recognition of locations, and the conjunction of events in their locations, as a function of age. Error bars indicate standard error.