Reminiscing and recounting in the preschool years.
Autobiographical memories constitute self-relevant personal events.
In addition to being self relevant, autobiographical memories are viewed by some theorists as serving a highly social function. Recounting serves to convey information about oneself that other people do not already know. While, reminiscing serves to rehash and relive past events shared by two or more people. Reese and Brown believe that the ability to distinguish between recounting and reminiscing develops as children age. In particular, these researchers believe that like theory of mind this ability requires the ability to understand the mental representations of other individuals.