Maternal elaboration and children's episodic memory accuracy: A double-edged sword?

Research demonstrating the mnemonic benefits of maternal elaboration on episodic memory development has given limited attention to conversational and developmental factors that may moderate this association, especially in relation to the accuracy of children's recall of unshared events. The present study examined associations between maternal elaboration and the accuracy of children's collaborative recall with their mothers and independent recall with an unfamiliar adult for an unshared event. We examined whether these associations depended on maternal autonomy support, mothers' accurate versus inaccurate preconceptions about the unshared event, and children's age. Participants were 141 children (4- to 7-year-olds; 52% female) and their mothers (71% White, 60% completed a bachelor's degree). Children individually participated in an unshared event and discussed the event with their mothers prior to a neutral interview with an unfamiliar adult. We experimentally manipulated whether mothers were exposed to accurate (i.e., knowledgeable) versus inaccurate (i.e., misled) details prior to collaborative recall. Maternal elaboration increased accurate collaborative recall among children with knowledgeable mothers and among older children with misled mothers but only when misled mothers were autonomy supportive. Younger children with misled mothers reported more accurate collaborative details as maternal autonomy support increased. Representing a double-edged sword, maternal elaboration increased inaccurate collaborative recall among younger children and decreased accurate independent recall in both maternal bias conditions. The present findings underscore the importance of considering conversational (i.e., maternal bias and autonomy support) and developmental contexts (i.e., child age) in elucidating the manner in which maternal elaboration relates to the accuracy of children's recall. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).