DEJA-VU ALL OVER AGAIN - EFFECTS OF REENACTMENT ON TODDLERS EVENT MEMORY

Four experiments examined (1) whether reenactment improves 18-month-ol ds' event memory, (2) how effects of reenactment are affected by the t ime at which the reenactment occurs, (3) whether timing of reenactment affects recall over very long periods of time, and (4) how partial re enactment affects recall. Children were trained to perform 8 novel act ivities in a laboratory playroom, returned to the playroom 15 min to 8 weeks later to reenact the activities, and were tested for recall of the original activities 6 to 8 weeks after reenactment. Results indica te that reenactment improves toddlers' event memory (Experiment 1); re enactment is more effective after a time delay (Experiment 2); effects of timing of reenactment are even more pronounced after a 6 month del ay (Experiment 3); and reenacting half of the activities is just as ef fective as reenacting all of the activities (Experiment 4). These find ings suggest that reenacting events or parts of events can remind very young children of past experiences and inoculate against forgetting o ver very long periods of time.