COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE COMPONENTS OF MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD LEARNING EXPERIENCES AMONG MALE EDUCATORS AND BUSINESSMEN

It is clear from past research that people remember only a limited number of events from their childhood. However, the reasons why we remember one memory instead of another still remain obscure. This study examines the autobiographical childhood memories reported by two different groups of people pursuing, respectively, a career in education and a career in business. The position argued is that there exists a relationship between the nature and content of individual childhood experiences and the interests and activities pursued in adulthood. The hypotheses under consideration examine the differences in the content, frequency, and type of memories recalled by 10 educators and 10 businessmen. It was hypothesized that, unlike the businessmen, the educators would recall childhood experiences that confirm their positive adult attitudes toward learning and teaching. The method used consists of in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted with a tape recorder. The questionnaire was developed specifically for this investigation and was previously tested in a pilot study. The data were transcribed, grouped, and coded so as to obtain distinct sets of memories for each subject in the two groups. A content analysis identified recurrent themes as well as feelings and personal perceptions of childhood events in the two groups of subjects. Results show that educators report memories of early learning experiences that are more frequent and more positive in affect than the memories reported by businessmen. The results are explained in the light of current cognitive theories