Early Reminiscing in Cultural Contexts: Cultural Models, Maternal Reminiscing Styles, and Children's Memories

The developmental and cultural psychology of free will

“…This likely leads children to implicate psychological motivations, such as personal desires, as causes of action, and leads them to imagine possibilities that are consistent with personal goals. Conversely, East Asian parents' conversations with their children emphasize social interactions, consequences to others, group activities, and discipline, in line with the cultural emphasis on a sense of belonging and self‐other relatedness (Mullen & Yi, ; Schröder et al, ; Wang, ; Wang & Fivush, ; Yau & Smetana, ). This likely leads to an emphasis on social causes such as norms and rules, and to imagining actions that align with social goals.…”

Memory Development from Early Childhood Through Emerging Adulthood

“…For autobiographical memory, mothers from European American cultures thus may foster a more detailed sense of the self in the past, whereas mothers from Asian cultures may want to downplay the independent self, supporting the reconstruction of a more communal past. In fact, several cross-cultural studies have demonstrated that mothers from Western middle-class cultures are on the whole more elaborative during past event conversations than mothers from non-Western cultures (e.g., Leichtman et al 2003;Mullen and Yi 1995;Schröder et al 2013;Wang 2001Wang , 2014. For instance, Schröder et al (2013) examined the conversations of 164 mothers from seven different cultural contexts (Western and non-Western).…”

“…In fact, several cross-cultural studies have demonstrated that mothers from Western middle-class cultures are on the whole more elaborative during past event conversations than mothers from non-Western cultures (e.g., Leichtman et al 2003;Mullen and Yi 1995;Schröder et al 2013;Wang 2001Wang , 2014. For instance, Schröder et al (2013) examined the conversations of 164 mothers from seven different cultural contexts (Western and non-Western). The children's provision of memory elaborations was high in Western middle-class families, low in non-Western rural farming families, and moderate in non-Western middle-class families.…”

“…For instance, Asian American parents have been found to emphasize independence and personal sufficiency to their children in addition to the family interdependence that is also equally valued in their socialization practices (Wang 2014). So it seems difficult to characterize mother-child conversations as predominantly autonomy oriented versus relatedness oriented as has been attempted in several cross-cultural comparisons (e.g., Schröder et al 2013). Growing up in modern society, children constantly encounter new technologies and new ways of thinking, and this makes the construction of the cultural self and autobiographical memory an extremely complex process.…”

Mother-Child Communication: Cultural Differences

“…Children in the prototypical autonomous contexts accordingly showed a highly elaborated style in narrating autobiographical memories whereas children in the prototypical relatedness context provide low elaboration in their autobiographical accounts (Schröder et al, 2013;Tõugu et al, 2011Tõugu et al, , 2012. Children in the prototypical autonomous contexts accordingly showed a highly elaborated style in narrating autobiographical memories whereas children in the prototypical relatedness context provide low elaboration in their autobiographical accounts (Schröder et al, 2013;Tõugu et al, 2011Tõugu et al, , 2012.…”