Increasing Steps in Recall of Events: Factors Facilitating Immediate and Long-Term Memory in 13.5- and 16.5-Month-Old Children

Children late in the second year of life show patterns of event recall similar to those of older children: (a) well-ordered immediate and delayed recall, and (b) facilitation of recall by familiarity and by enabling relations. We used elicited imitation to test whether the patterns extend to children early in the second year. In Experiment 1, 13.5- and 16.5-month-olds accurately recalled familiar and novel 2-act sequences immediately and after a 1-week delay. For 16.5-month-olds, recall was facilitated by familiarity and by enabling relations; for 13.5-month-olds, only enabling relations facilitated recall. In Experiment 2, verbal cues were used to test immediate and 1-week delayed recall of 3-act sequences. For both ages, recall was facilitated by familiarity and by enabling relations. Experiment 3 verified that the verbal information served to cue recall of previously experienced events, not to "suggest" sequences that could be performed. Together the results demonstrate that children as young as 13 months can recall specific events after a delay. They also suggest development in sensitivity to factors that facilitate recall.