This research examined possible stylistic differences in how mothers structure conversations about the past with their young children. Just as there are different maternal styles for talking about the "here-and-now," which influence children's language development, we explored different maternal styles for talking about the "there-and-then," which might influence children's memory development. Ten mothers and their 30-35-monthold children engaged in naturalistic conversations about various past events. Two styles emerged, an elaborative style and a repetitive style. Elaborative mothers talk more than repetitive mothers, they ask more memory questions, and they provide more information about the event under discussion. They are also more likely to elaborate on their previous questions, whereas repetitive mothers tend to simply repeat questions without embellishment. Implications of these two maternal styles for the child's memory development are discussed.In this study, we examined how mothers structure conversations about past events with their 2-year-old children. A few recent studies indicate that even children this young are able to participate in conversations about the past and can provide accurate information about the event under discussion (DeForest & Fivush, 1984;Fivush, Gray, & Fromhoff, 1987;Hudson, 1986). But recounting a past experience involves more than simply reporting details of the event; children must also learn how to talk about past events in a conventionalized linguistic form, in order to communicate effectively to another what transpired. Reporting the past is as much a conversational skill as a memory skill and, as such, must be influenced by the kinds of conversational interactions in which the child is expected to engage. That is, the ways in which adults converse with the child about the past will influence the way in which the child comes to think about and talk about the past independently. Eisenberg (1985) identified three phases in how children learn to talk about past events in a longitudinal study of 2 young children between the ages of 18

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