Elaborative style: an utterance-level coding framework for adult–child reminiscing

Research Method · All research methods
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 review), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description

Elaborative style is a dimension of adults' language assessed in reminiscing research, classified on a continuum from high to low. High elaborative style uses open-ended questions, details and embellished descriptions producing co-constructed dialog with a strong narrative thread; coding proceeds "on an utterance-by-utterance basis followed by a quantitative assessment of the amount ofelaborationsand repetitionsa parent uses". Elaborations add new information; repetitions repeat the gist of a prior turn; evaluations confirm or negate and extend the child's utterance. The review proposes this framework as a transferable model for analyzing other adult–child conversations.

Accounts

• Elaborative style: an utterance-level coding framework for adult–child reminiscing: Elaborative style is a dimension of adults' language assessed in reminiscing research, classified on a continuum from high to low. High elaborative style uses open-ended questions, details and embellished descriptions producing co-constructed dialog with a strong narrative thread; coding proceeds "on an utterance-by-utterance basis followed by a quantitative assessment of the amount ofelaborationsand repetitionsa parent uses". Elaborations add new information; repetitions repeat the gist of a prior turn; evaluations confirm or negate and extend the child's utterance. The review proposes this framework as a transferable model for analyzing other adult–child conversations. (Dave Neale et al. (2016))

Claims

• Parental elaborative style during reminiscing relates to children's vocabulary, narrative skills, autobiographical memory, and social-emotional skills [+M]
• Intervention studies suggest elaborative style during reminiscing plays a causal role in children's language, narrative and theory-of-mind development [+M]

Related Research Methods

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Key Sources

• Dave Neale & Deborah Pino-Pasternak. (2016). A Review of Reminiscing in Early Childhood Settings and Links to Sustained Shared Thinking. Educ Psychol Rev. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-016-9376-0

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	research-method
id	elaborative-style-an-utterance-level-coding-framework-for-adultchild-reminiscing
title	Elaborative style: an utterance-level coding framework for adult–child reminiscing
description	Elaborative style is a dimension of adults' language assessed in reminiscing research, classified on a continuum from high to low.
status	review
generated	by process:settle-candidates on 2026-10-21
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content

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