Remembering the temporal information associated with personal past events is critical for autobiographical memory, yet we know relatively little about the development of this capacity. In the present research, we investigated temporal memory for naturally occurring personal events in 4-, 6-, and 8-year-old children. Parents recorded unique events in which their children participated during a 4-month period. At test, children made relative recency judgments and estimated the time of each event using conventional time scales (time of day, day of week, month of year, and season). Children also were asked to provide justifications for their time-scale judgments. Six- and 8-year-olds, but not 4-year-olds, accurately judged the order of two distinct events. There were age-related improvements in children's estimation of the time of events using conventional time scales. Older children provided more justifications for their time-scale judgments compared with younger children. Relations between correct responding on the time-scale judgments and provision of meaningful justifications suggest that children may use that information to reconstruct the times associated with past events. The findings can be used to chart a developmental trajectory of performance in temporal memory for personal past events and have implications for our understanding of autobiographical memory development.

中文翻译：

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幼儿对个人过去事件的记忆

记住与个人过去事件相关的时间信息对于自传体记忆至关重要，但我们对这种能力的发展知之甚少。在本研究中，我们调查了 4 岁、6 岁和 8 岁儿童自然发生的个人事件的时间记忆。父母记录了他们的孩子在 4 个月内参与的独特事件。在测试中，孩子们使用传统的时间尺度（一天中的时间、一周中的一天、一年中的月份和季节）进行相对新近判断并估计每个事件的时间。还要求儿童为他们的时间尺度判断提供理由。6 岁和 8 岁的孩子，但不是 4 岁的孩子，可以准确判断两个不同事件的顺序。儿童的年龄相关的改善 s 使用传统时间尺度估计事件的时间。与年幼的孩子相比，年长的孩子为他们的时间尺度判断提供了更多的理由。对时间尺度判断的正确反应与提供有意义的理由之间的关系表明，儿童可能会使用这些信息来重建与过去事件相关的时间。这些发现可用于绘制个人过去事件的时间记忆表现的发展轨迹，并对我们对自传记忆发展的理解产生影响。对时间尺度判断的正确反应与提供有意义的理由之间的关系表明，儿童可能会使用这些信息来重建与过去事件相关的时间。这些发现可用于绘制个人过去事件的时间记忆表现的发展轨迹，并对我们对自传记忆发展的理解产生影响。对时间尺度判断的正确反应与提供有意义的理由之间的关系表明，儿童可能会使用这些信息来重建与过去事件相关的时间。这些发现可用于绘制个人过去事件的时间记忆表现的发展轨迹，并对我们对自传记忆发展的理解产生影响。