Self-regulatory private speech relates to children's recall and organization of autobiographical memories

We investigated relations between 4- and 7-year-olds’ (N = 58) autobiographical memory and their use of self-regulatory private speech in a non-mnemonic context (a cognitive planning task). Children's use of self-regulatory private speech during the planning task was associated with longer autobiographical narratives which included specific rather than general memories and which were recalled with greater narrative cohesion and more evaluative information. Children's use of private speech that served no regulatory function was unrelated to all memory variables. The relations between self-regulatory private speech and autobiographical memory were independent of children's age, general verbal ability, and gender. Our findings are discussed in the context of the social interaction perspective on autobiographical memory development.

► Private speech (PS) may be a mechanism for autobiographical memory (AM) development.
► Self-regulatory PS was assessed in an age-appropriate planning task (ages 4–8).
► Children using more PS produced longer and more specific AM narratives.
► PS also correlated with greater narrative cohesion and more evaluative information.
► PS–AM relations were independent of verbal ability.