Mother–Child Joint Conversational Exchanges During Events: Linkages to Children's Memory Reports Over Time

Abstract

This longitudinal study explores linkages between patterns of mother–child conversation as events unfold and children's subsequent event memory reports. Eighty-nine mother-child dyads took part in novel “adventures” in their homes when the children were 36 and 42 months old. In contrast to “low joint talk” dyads, the conversations of “high joint talk” dyads were characterized by a high proportion of children's correct responses to their mothers' Wh- questions, and a low proportion of failures to respond to these queries. Children in the high joint talk dyads reported more in memory assessments at 36 and 42 months than their low joint talk counterparts. The results point to specific forms of elaborative conversational interactions that may be especially important for successful remembering.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Support for the research reported here was provided by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (HD37114). An earlier version of this report was presented at the 2007 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development in Boston, MA. Much appreciation is extended to the children and parents who graciously volunteered their time and energy to the study. Thanks are also due our research team, especially Jennifer Coffman, Holger Elischberger, Barbara O'Brien, David Rudek, Caroline Staneck Tyler, and Marisa Volpe.

Notes

∗p < .05; ∗∗p < .01.

∗p < .05; ∗∗p < .01; ∗∗∗p < .001.