Childrens Memories - Coursework Example

 Children’s Memories Major theoretical issues The memory of children improves with age. This is the memory that enables them remember factual information as they heard it almost detail by detail and this is what is referred to as episodic memory. Children above four years of age had an advanced memory and do not rely fully in episodic memory as they start to reason about the where and how the memories of learning they have was collected. These children however still do not have a good recollection of their source of information or about learning episodes if there is a considerable delay interval between the time the information was learnt and time of recollection.

This is especially true for preschoolers. For children around 8-9 years however, they have good episodic response and especially more so for the girls. The hypotheses There were several hypotheses in this research the first being that children between the ages of 4 and 5 years would have a difficult time when it comes to providing detailed account in a narrative form of the events learnt. The other hypotheses predicted by the authors is that 7 to 9 year olds would have better narration of the events learnt with more details.

With prediction of the presence of gender differences when it comes to learning and recollection of the memory, the researchers predicted that girls would report a higher number of learning episodes in a more detailed form and hence a longer narrative than the boys at the same age of development (Bemis, Leichtman and Pillemer, 2011). Were the hypotheses supported? The hypotheses were well supported by previous researches carried out on the same topic of memory and age differences as well as memory and gender differences.

When it comes to gender differences for example, previous researches through literature review had unveiled that girls got much more elaborate conversations from their parents about their past events compared to the boys and at a very tender age from that matter making them good at recollecting that information and being involved in longer narratives compared to the boys who got none of that. Research on age was also supported from the fact that the long term memory of children in preschool is still under development and therefore it is expected that compared to their middle school counterparts, their recollection of past learnt events would be a bit lower.

The methods Recruitmentof the 80 participants happened through summer camps where there are different children of the age groups needed in the research between 4 and 8 year olds. Permission to engage children in the research was sought through letter and signed permission. Participation in the research also got consent from the children who showed willingness to participate. The information was got through one on one interview with each child and a presentation of the same questions was made to them.

There were six identical interview questions depending on the age group and probing was frequently used and especially in gathering information regarding recollection of the exact time the information was learnt. In the coding stage, the number of words made by each participant when answering was also recorded as the hypotheses also included the length of the narrative. Results Children between 4-5 years answered most of the questions about factual knowledge correctly same as children aged between 7 and 9 years.

In regards to factual knowledge questions, more boys answered correctly than girls. Results also indicated that majority of the younger children answered the factual questions compared to older children. In terms of guessing or knowing the answers, more males knew rather than guessed compared to the girls. 35% of all the participants remembered when they had learnt the information being asked although older children remembered more than younger children. Girls however recalled more than the boys and they also had more narrative words than the boys on all the age groups (Bemis, Leichtman and Pillemer, 2011).

General conclusions Based on the results, the hypotheses were proven true. What also can be concluded is that majority of children from 4 years have recollection of what they have learnt and when they learnt it and when it comes to recollection, the factual information is highly recalled than any other type of information. Children in preschool and majority of them boys even in middle school had a higher tendency in recollecting the visual information compared to narrative one unlike the girls who excelled in narrative information.

The ability to know the factual information from children in middle school also makes it easier for them to recall the exact time and place they learnt the information from indicating that their long term memory has developed from the age of 7 years compared to those in the preschool who are between 4 and 6 years. References Bemis, R., Leichtman, M. and Pillemer, D. (2011). “‘I Remember When I Learned That!’ Developmental and Gender Differences in Children’s Memories of Learning Episodes.

” Infant and Child Development, vol. 20, pp. 387-399.