CHILDRENS BELIEFS ABOUT LONG-TERM RETENTION

In 2 experiments, we examined preschool, grade 1, and grade 3 children 's metamemory about long-term retention. Specifically, we examined bel iefs about the type of information most likely to be forgotten and bel iefs about the impact of suggestions and retroactive interference on m emory. Children made and explained paired-comparison judgments concern ing the differential forgetting of peripheral versus central informati on, whether misinformation effects would arise from suggestions by oth ers, and whether retroactive interference would arise from experiencin g two similar events. The major findings were that (a) most children b elieved that events central to a story would be retained better than p eripheral details; (b) in preschool and first grade, children believed that memory was invulnerable to suggestion (from a parent or a siblin g), but in third grade, children believed suggestion could adversely a ffect memory; (c) most preschoolers believed that retroactive interfer ence effects would not occur, whereas most first and third graders ack nowledged that they would; (d) older children believed that both sugge stibility and interference were less likely given a retention interval of several months compared to 1 day; and (e) in explaining their beli efs, children assigned sensory-behavioral factors a major causal role in determining what would be remembered over the long term. These resu lts are discussed in terms of the development of beliefs about memory and the mind in general.