Exploring early self‐referential memory effects through ownership

Abstract

The self-reference effect (SRE) is the reliable memory advantage for information encoded about self over material encoded about other people. The developmental pathway of the SRE has proved difficult to chart, because the standard SRE task is unsuitable for young children. The current inquiry was designed to address this issue using an ownership paradigm, as encoding objects in the context of self-ownership have been shown to elicit self-referential memory advantages in adults. Pairs of 4- to 6-year-old children (n = 64) sorted toy pictures into self- and other-owned sets. A surprise recognition memory test revealed a significant advantage for toys owned by self, which decreased with age. Neither verbal ability nor theory of mind attainment predicted the size of the memory advantage for self-owned items. This finding suggests that contrary to some previous reports, memory in early childhood can be shaped by the same self-referential biases that pervade adult cognition.

Explanations of the endowment effect: an integrative review

“…People have better memory for goods that they own than goods that are owned by others, even if that ownership is simply imagined [85][86][87]. This memory bias is correlated with the activation and deactivation of brain regions involved in self-referential processing while thinking about who owns those goods [68,88].…”

Disowning the Self: The Cultural Value of Modesty can Attenuate Self-Positivity

“…Our findings complement this view. The self and objects associated with it may be "owned" (Cunningham, Brady-Van Den Bos, & Turk, 2011;Cunningham, Turk, Macdonald, & Macrae, 2008;Cunningham, Vergunst, Macrae, & Turk, 2012), but modesty may partially dis-own the self.…”

Selfish learning: The impact of self-referential encoding on children's literacy attainment

“…The SRE can be elicited through surprisingly simple self-item associations, for example by presenting to-beremembered information simultaneously with the participant's own name or face , by assigning items to self through temporary ownership (Cunningham, Turk, MacDonald, & Macrae, 2008) or through self-choice (Cunningham, van den Bos, & Turk, 2011). Several studies have also demonstrated robust SREs in early and middle childhood (Cunningham, Brebner, Quinn, & Turk, 2014;Cunningham Vergunst, Macrae, & Turk, 2013;Ross, Anderson, & Campbell, 2011;Sui & Zhu, 2005).…”