The “what” and “where” of the threat superiority effect in children's memory

Although a substantial body of research has demonstrated a processing advantage for threatening entities compared to nonthreatening ones in adults, very few studies have investigated the effect of threat on memory processes in children. The present study aimed to address this gap by testing memory for dangerous entities and their locations in 88 children aged 5-10 years. To do so, the children played Memory games on a digital tablet. Location memory was assessed by recording the number of errors made when matching card pairs. Item memory was assessed using a free recall task administered after the Memory game session. The results revealed a significant threat superiority effect for both item and location memory. Specifically, dangerous animals were remembered better than nondangerous ones as early as age 5. Location memory advantages for threatening items emerged by the age of 8. Further analysis showed significant relationships between memory performance and the emotional dimensions of the stimuli (arousal and emotional intensity). Finally, modern threats were recalled better than evolutionary threats, although no differences were observed in location memory. Overall, these findings provide further evidence to support the idea that threatening information has an adaptive value in memory processes during childhood.