Remembering before acting : the role of episodic memory in future prosocial behavior in preschooler

Memory helps us draw on past experiences to guide our current decisions, an ability that can sometimes lead to unexpected outcomes. In adults, for instance, recalling previous good deeds may evoke a sense of moral licensing, reducing the likelihood of later prosocial behaviors. To date, however, the link between memory for past good deeds and later social behavior in young children remains unexplored. To address this question, 134 French-speaking preschoolers (24-47 months; 68 girls) were assigned to either a “good deed” condition (helping an accomplice hide a birthday gift) or a “neutral” condition (observing an accomplice hide a gift). One week later, children’s memory of the event was tested. Directly after children’s recall, the experimenter dropped a pack of cards and the frequency (present/absent) and speed of children’s helping behavior were coded by two independent raters. Generalized Linear Analyses revealed that children who recall a past “good deed” were more likely and quicker to help than children who recall a “neutral” event. The strength of this relation, however, was found to decrease with age: older children initiated prosocial actions less frequently or after a longer latency period as compared to younger children. Overall, these results reveal the role of episodic memory in guiding future prosocial behaviors in children and suggest that, as they grow older, children rely more on deliberate and strategic processes when deciding whether and when to help.