Children's recall of emotional behaviours, emotional labels, and nonemotional behaviours: Does emotion enhance memory?

Abstract

First, third, and fifth grade children's recall of emotional behaviours, emotional labels, and nonemotional behaviours in text was examined in two experiments. Across experiments, all children recalled more emotional behaviours (e.g., “That night Maria dropped a carton of eggs in the kitchen and her parents got mad at her”) than nonemotional behaviours (e.g., “After dinner, Maria and her brothers did their homework together”). In fact, with short stories and few items to-be-remembered (Experiment 1), no significant differences were found in first, third, and fifth grade children's recall of emotional behaviours. In contrast, older children recalled more nonemotional behaviours than younger children. With longer and more complex stories (Experiment 2), older children recalled more emotional behaviours than younger children. Nevertheless, all children recalled more emotional behaviours than nonemotional behaviours across experiments. The effects of varying the valence of the emotion, the labelling of emotion, and the length of retention interval on memory were also examined. The results are discussed in terms of a recent model of emotion and in terms of the implications for understanding the development of memory.