Josephine Ross

This volume investigates mnemonic self-reference effects in preschoolers, referring to memory recall of stimuli as a function of the depth of mental processing. It explores a series of 7 experiments exploring the role of self in 3- and 4-year-olds' event memory. This effect is thought to be based on the organizational properties of a highly elaborated self-concept, and so offers a clear route to study the child's developing sense of self. However, very few studies have investigated the origin and the development of this effect. New evidence is provided to suggest that preschool children, like adults, show a mnemonic advantage for material that has been physically linked with the self through performance of a depicted action (Experiment 1). Moreover, 3- and 4-year olds show a bias for material that has been visually and linguistically processed with the self-image (Experiments 2, 3, 4), and material that has been socio-cognitively linked to the self in terms of ownership (Experiments 5, 6, 7). The data imply that both bottom-up (kinesthetic feedback, self-concept) and top-down (attention) aspects of self-reflection may play a supporting role in early event memory, perhaps representing a nascent form of autobiographical processing. Importantly, this research highlights a promising methodology for elucidating the executive role of the self in cognition.

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