Memory for the temporal order of past events is a critical capacity; however, relatively little is known about its development and the processes that support it in early to middle childhood. The aim of this study was to examine children's memory for the temporal order of real‐world events. Four–five‐year‐old (n = 36), 6–7‐year‐old (n = 45) and 8–10‐year‐old (n = 46) children participated in a week‐long camp at a local zoo, which involved engaging activities and visits to animals each day. On the last day of camp, we tested children's memory for the order of pairs of animals visited. The elapsed time (lag) between event pairs was manipulated to test whether children's accuracy would show the temporal distance effect and give us insights into the processes supporting temporal memory. We found that 8–10‐year‐olds, but not younger groups, showed the temporal distance effect. Implications for our understanding of the cognitive processes supporting temporal memory development are discussed.

中文翻译：

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我在长颈鹿之前拜访过北极熊吗？检查记忆，了解儿童早期至中期的时间顺序和时间距离效应

记忆过去事件的时间顺序至关重要。然而，关于它的发展以及支持它的早期到中期的过程知之甚少。这项研究的目的是检查儿童记忆中现实事件的时间顺序。四岁至五岁（n = 36），6至7岁（n = 45）和8至10岁（n= 46）儿童参加了在当地动物园进行的为期一周的营地活动，其中包括每天进行有趣的活动和探访动物。在训练营的最后一天，我们测试了孩子的记忆力以了解他们对成对动物的顺序。操纵事件对之间的经过时间（滞后）来测试儿童的准确性是否会显示出时间距离的影响，并让我们深入了解支持时间记忆的过程。我们发现8至10岁的人群表现出时间距离效应，但没有年轻的群体。讨论了对我们理解支持时态记忆发展的认知过程的影响。