Psychological Theory as a Determiner of Experimental Pattern in Child Study.

This article presents a review on the psychological theory as a determiner of experimental pattern in child study. The combination of inadequate theoretical grounding and social urgency has resulted in overgeneralization and inappropriate generalization of research. A methodological study involving introductory psychology students found that the order of requesting memories determined whether more pleasant or unpleasant memories were recalled. They also demonstrated that the primary factor in recall seemed to be intensity, where the more intense experiences, regardless of their pleasant or unpleasant nature, were recalled earlier than less intense experiences. The childhood memory area had produced results which support moderately the psychoanalytic conceptions of infantile amnesia and repressions; but the degree of fit manifested must be viewed skeptically due to common methodological errors.