What supports the development of children’s prospective memory? Examining the relation between children’s prospective memory, memory strategy use, and parent scaffolding

Mazachowsky, Tessa R., Hamilton, Colin and Mahy, Caitlin E. V. (2021) What supports the development of children’s prospective memory? Examining the relation between children’s prospective memory, memory strategy use, and parent scaffolding. Journal of Cognition and Development, 22 (5). pp. 721-743. ISSN 1524-8372

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2021.1939352

Abstract

Remembering to carry out intended actions in the future, known as prospective memory (PM), is an important cognitive ability. In daily life, individuals remember to perform future tasks that might rely on effortful processes (monitoring) but also habitual tasks that might rely on more automatic processes. The development of PM across childhood in laboratory contexts is well understood, but little is known about the social context in which children develop their PM skills in everyday life. In the current study, three hundred and one parents reported on their 3-to 11-year-old child’s PM, child’s strategy use, and on their own scaffolding of their child’s PM using the Children’s Everyday Memory Questionnaire (CEMQ; adapted from the Prospective Memory Questionnaire). Preliminary analyses showed that the PM items on the CEMQ were reliable and composed of two components (a PM and a PM strategy use subscale). Our results showed that children’s PM and use of memory strategies, as reported by their parents, increased with age. Further, more frequent parent scaffolding was related to better PM in children. These relations were also explored separately for older and younger children. Notably, parents of younger, 3-to 6-year-olds reported scaffolding them more frequently with age, while parents of older, 7-to 11-year-olds reported scaffolding them less frequently with age. Open-ended responses revealed that parents used verbal reminders and children used external aids most frequently. Overall, parent scaffolding appears to impact children’s PM, but future research is needed to identify the causal direction of these relations.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Funding information: This work was supported by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada [RGPIN-2015-03774].
Uncontrolled Keywords: prospective memory, scaffolding, memory strategies, children
Subjects: C800 Psychology
Department: Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Psychology
Depositing User: Elena Carlaw
Date Deposited: 11 Jun 2021 15:16
Last Modified: 30 Aug 2022 08:01
URI: https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/46430

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