“Remember When You Got The Big, Big Bulldozer?” Mother–Child Reminiscing Over Time and Across Cultures

This study investigated the long–term contribution of maternal elaborative reminiscing to children's development of autobiographical memory ability in a cross–cultural context. Preschool–age children and their mothers from Chinese families in China, first–generation immigrant Chinese families in the U.S., and European American families participated. Mothers and children discussed shared past experiences three times at home, when children were 3, 3.5, and 4.5 years of age. Across all time points, Euro–American mothers used a more elaborative style than the mothers of both Chinese groups, and Euro–American children reported more memory information than their Chinese peers. Maternal elaborative reminiscing was positively associated with mothers' value orientation toward independence (relative to interdependence) and an autonomous self–construal. Regardless of culture, mothers' use of elaborations showed both concurrent and long–term effects on children's memory responding. Findings are discussed in light of the development of autobiographical memory in social–cultural contexts.