Routine Narrative Practice as an Activity to Foster the Development of Children's Narrative Quality

Brubacher, SP; Westerveld, M; Zekiroski, H; Holder, R; Powell, MB

Routine Narrative Practice as an Activity to Foster the Development of Children's Narrative Quality

Brubacher, SP Westerveld, M Zekiroski, H Holder, R

Powell, MB

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Publisher:: WILEY
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2026, 40, (4)
Issue Date:: 2026-07-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Brubacher, SP
dc.contributor.author	Westerveld, M
dc.contributor.author	Zekiroski, H
dc.contributor.author	Holder, R https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1610-3544
dc.contributor.author	Powell, MB
dc.date.accessioned	2026-10-09T02:52:50Z
dc.date.available	2026-10-09T02:52:50Z
dc.date.issued	2026-07-01
dc.identifier.citation	Applied Cognitive Psychology, 2026, 40, (4)
dc.identifier.issn	0888-4080
dc.identifier.issn	1099-0720
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/196889
dc.description.abstract	The present study investigated whether repeated practice in answering open-ended questions about personal events (narrative practice) benefits the narrative quality of unrelated accounts, and whether it had a rapport-building function. Over 4 sessions, children (N = 86) aged 6–12 (M = 8.71, SD = 1.76; 56% female; 20% Aboriginal) talked with RA1 about personal events (practice condition) or did a craft (control condition). The following week, children watched a film and a new RA asked what happened. Children's narratives were coded for story grammar and accuracy, which were correlated with age. As predicted, the practice condition reported more complex story grammar and more accurate details than the craft condition, with a small increase in errors to follow-up questions, and more frequently endorsed RA1 as a potential disclosure recipient. The results suggest that engaging in ongoing practice responding to open-ended questions about experienced events improves children's narrative abilities and builds rapport.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	WILEY
dc.relation.ispartof	Applied Cognitive Psychology
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1002/acp.70263
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	1505 Marketing, 1701 Psychology, 1702 Cognitive Sciences
dc.subject.classification	Experimental Psychology
dc.subject.classification	3904 Specialist studies in education
dc.subject.classification	5201 Applied and developmental psychology
dc.subject.classification	5204 Cognitive and computational psychology
dc.title	Routine Narrative Practice as an Activity to Foster the Development of Children's Narrative Quality
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	40
utslib.for	1505 Marketing
utslib.for	1701 Psychology
utslib.for	1702 Cognitive Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Law
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.rights.license	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.date.updated	2026-10-09T02:52:50Z
pubs.issue	4
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	40
utslib.citation.issue	4

Abstract:

The present study investigated whether repeated practice in answering open-ended questions about personal events (narrative practice) benefits the narrative quality of unrelated accounts, and whether it had a rapport-building function. Over 4 sessions, children (N = 86) aged 6–12 (M = 8.71, SD = 1.76; 56% female; 20% Aboriginal) talked with RA1 about personal events (practice condition) or did a craft (control condition). The following week, children watched a film and a new RA asked what happened. Children's narratives were coded for story grammar and accuracy, which were correlated with age. As predicted, the practice condition reported more complex story grammar and more accurate details than the craft condition, with a small increase in errors to follow-up questions, and more frequently endorsed RA1 as a potential disclosure recipient. The results suggest that engaging in ongoing practice responding to open-ended questions about experienced events improves children's narrative abilities and builds rapport.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/196889