LEARNING TO REMINISCE: A DEVELOPMENTAL STUDY OF HOW YOUNG CHILDREN TALK ABOUT THE PAST.
Item
-
Title
-
LEARNING TO REMINISCE: A DEVELOPMENTAL STUDY OF HOW YOUNG CHILDREN TALK ABOUT THE PAST.
-
Identifier
-
AAI8611339
-
identifier
-
8611339
-
Creator
-
ENGEL, SUSAN.
-
Contributor
-
Katherine Nelson
-
Date
-
1986
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
Psychology, Developmental
-
Abstract
-
This study addresses three related issues: How do young children first come to talk about the past? How does this activity have its own developmental history? What role does maternal input play in the development of talk about the past?;Four mother-child pairs were observed 10 times over a five month period (children's age: 19-24 months). In addition, 6 mother-child dyads at each of the three ages (19, 24 and 30 months) were observed once, discussing three events from their past.;Analyses of references to the past from both parts of the study revealed developmental shifts as well as individual differences in style.;As the child gets older, the mother-child pair refers to the past more frequently. Their conversations are longer and include more detail. While at first children participate without contributing information, over time they are increasingly able to add material to these narratives.;Two styles of talking about the past were identified: practical remembering and reminiscing.;Practical remembering pairs refer infrequently to the past. They construct brief spare narratives. Their references to the past are usually in the service of some ongoing activity. In contrast reminiscing dyads refer to the past more frequently. Their narratives are longer, include more embellishments and tend to be more sequential. These dyads usually refer to the past for the sake of telling a story and sharing a memory rather than to clarify some present action. Children of reminiscing dyads contribute more information and are more likely to participate in and prolong dialogues about the past than children of practical remembering pairs.;Finally the data support the argument that some young children and their mothers co-construct the past. This co-construction undergoes developmental change. At first mothers and children participate in an intersubjective representation of a past event. Over time their dialogic roles become differentiated. As this differention occurs the child internalizes the narrative and develops a personal sense of the past.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
-
degree
-
Ph.D.
-
Program
-
Psychology
