儿时记忆良多 成人后它们都有什么威力?

The incident helped Haneefah learn to talk about her emotions -- an ability linked in research to coping skills. Dr. Zaman encouraged her to describe her feelings and gave them a name -- fear. 'Were there other times when you were scared or you felt very frightened?' she asked. Haneefah has since learned to start conversations about her emotions, telling her mother, 'I had a bad dream and I was scared,' Dr. Zaman says.
这件事让哈妮法学会了谈论自己的情感——研究表明这是一种和应对技能相关的能力。扎曼鼓励女儿描述自己的感觉并且给这种感觉起名字——恐惧。她问女儿：“其他时候你有没有害怕或者感觉非常恐惧过？”从此哈妮法开始学会讨论自己的情感，她告诉妈妈：“我做了个噩梦，我很害怕。”

Few adults remember much before they were 3.5 years old, on average. Some people have credible memories from as early as 18 months of age, however, while others can't recall much before the age of 8, says Patricia Bauer, a psychologist and a senior associate dean for research at Emory.
一般来说，能够记得三岁半以前事情的成年人寥寥无几 。埃默里大学心理学家、负责研究的高级副院长帕特里夏·鲍尔(Patricia Bauer)说，有人对18个月时的事就有可靠的记忆，但有人连八岁以前的事都记不起来。

Early memories have a higher likelihood of surviving when children are encouraged to talk about them soon after the event. Adults can guide them to tell 'a good story, that has a beginning, middle and an end,' and help them talk about what it means, says Dr. Bauer, a leading researcher on the topic. The key behavior by mothers is 'deflecting' conversation back to the child -- that is, tossing the ball back to the child repeatedly by asking, say, 'We really had fun, didn't we?' or, 'Tell me more,' she says, based on findings published last year.
如果在事件发生后不久，孩子受到鼓励把事情讲出来，早期记忆保留下来的可能性就更大。该领域研究的领军人物鲍尔说，成年人可以引导他们讲“一个好听的故事，有开端、发展和结局的完整故事”，帮助他们讲出故事的意义。她说，去年发表的研究结果表明，妈妈们最关键的行为就是把谈话“引回”给孩子——也就是不断把话头扔给孩子，比如，她们可以说“我们玩得很开心，不是吗？”或者“再多说些”。

Children with mothers who have a 'highly elaborative style' of reminiscing with their kids, asking open-ended who, what, where and when questions, are able at ages 4 and 5 to recall earlier, more detailed memories than other children, research shows. Parents with a more 'repetitive' style of reminiscing, who ask questions with one-word answers and simply repeat them if the child can't respond, have children with fewer and less vivid recollections.
研究表明，如果母亲引导孩子回忆事件时采用“高度详述的谈话风格”，向孩子提出“谁”、“什么”、“哪里”或者“什么时候”这类开放式问题，孩子在四五岁时就能够比其他孩子重拾更早、更详细的记忆。如果父母在回忆时更多地采用“重复”的风格，问的问题一个词就能回答，而且孩子回答不出时只是简单地重复问题，那么孩子的记忆会更少，也不会那么生动。

The elaborative method proved to be easy to learn says Catherine Haden, a psychology professor at Loyola University Chicago, a co-author of a 2003 study of parents of 39 preschoolers. Researchers gave parents a pamphlet to read, then showed them a video describing the elaborative style of conversing with children. Mothers who had the training readily adopted the elaborative style during a staged camping activity, and their kids recalled more details when questioned about the trip later.
芝加哥洛约拉大学(Loyola University Chicago)心理学教授凯瑟琳·黑登(Catherine Haden)说，研究表明，详述式方法很容易学。黑登还是2003年一项针对39名学龄前儿童家长所做研究的合著者。研究人员让家长们看一个小册子，然后给他们放了一段介绍以详述式方法和孩子交谈的视频。看过册子和视频的妈妈们在一次有组织的宿营活动中很快采用了详述式方法，她们的孩子后来在回答有关宿营的问题时也回忆起更多的细节。

Dr. Zaman says she sometimes has to make a conscious effort when she's tired or busy to keep tossing the conversational ball back in Haneefah's court. After a boat ride last weekend, Dr. Zaman encouraged Haneefah to describe the splashing of the waves and her favorite part, watching the driver bring the boat to shore. She wants to show Haneefah 'her version of the story matters,' she says.
扎曼说，有时自己太累或太忙，她就得促使自己打起精神努力引导哈妮法交谈。上周末坐船回来后，扎曼鼓励哈妮法描述汹涌的波涛还有她最喜欢的部分——看着船长开船靠岸。她说，她希望让哈妮法知道“她的视角是很重要的”。