Examining “Self” in Five- Year-Olds' Personal Stories: A Narrative Analysis of Coherence

1. Examining “Self” in Five- Year-Olds' Personal Stories: A Narrative Analysis of Coherence Taryn Bellgard Hanover College

2. Narrative Theory • People make sense of the world through stories (Mischler, 1986) • The “self” is viewed as socially constructed and formed through shared language (DeSocio, 2005) • Self is seen as “an unfolding reflective awareness of being-in-the-world” (Ochs & Capps, 1996)

3. Defining Narrative Coherence • A narrative is clearly constructed and organized(Fiese & Sameroff, 1999) • A narrative has all of the necessary information for the listener (Abbema & Bauer, 2005)

4. Analyzing Narrative Coherence • Ideal Story Structure • Has a formal beginning and ending • Includes a goal-directed plot with a rising action and falling action (Hudson, Gebelt, Haviland, Bentivegna, 1992) • Basic Story Components • who, what, where, when, how, and why (Abbema & Bauer, 2005)

5. Narratives with Children • Narrative analysis of 8-year-olds’ self-talk • Drew self-portrait while describing oneself to a familiar adult (Uszynska-Jarmoc, 2004) • Case study of 8-year-old • Therapy included a storybook about the child’s life to help him adjust to foster care (DeSocio, 2005)

6. Why 5-year-old children? By the age of five, children typically have… • Self-awareness as a distinct individual (DeSocio, 2005) • A Theory of Mind (Kleinknecht & Beike, 2004) • Control of language (DeSocio, 2005) • Narrative skill (Kleinknecht & Beike, 2004) • Autobiographical memory (DeSocio, 2005; Nelson, 1992)

7. Research Question: How do 5-year-old children create coherent narratives about the self?

8. Participants • Seven 5-year-olds (3 female, 4 male) • All currently or previously enrolled in a single rural mid-western preschool • Informed consent and basic background obtained from parents

9. Data Collection: Storybook Session • Lasted 40 minutes to 1 hour • Audio recorded and later transcribed • Each child was asked to create a storybook with the researcher using five story prompts: • Family • Event • Relationship • Emotion • Future

10. Data Analysis: Story Coherence • A story consisted of any stretch of talk made by the child from the time the story topic was stated until the next topic was stated • Coded each story for components of who, what, where, when, how, and why? • Totaled components of each question

11. Beth’s Event Story T: do you want to tell a story about the day you lost your tooth? B: drawing me / I’m just drawing myschool B: Ibumped a tooth B: and thenwhenIwoke upone daythetooth fairygot me a [toy] horse and money B: Iwasvery surprised B: my mom and dadwerevery happythatIlost my tooth B:Iwas happy too

12. Narrative Analysis

13. Beth’s Event Story T: do you want to tell a story about the day you lost your tooth? B: drawing me / I’m just drawing myschool B: I bumped a tooth B: and then when I woke up one day the tooth fairy got me a [toy] horse and money B: I was very surprised B: my mom and dad were very happy that I lost my tooth B:I was happy too

14. From Coherence to “Self” • Fully coherent stories offer perspective • The child’s point of view • “Awareness of being-in-the-world” (Ochs & Capps, 1996) • Fully coherent stories demonstrate how young children can portray their understanding of experiences through personal narratives