Factors that may influence the picture-elicited narrative production of 4-year-old children were examined. Subjects were 70 children of 4 years of age who told narratives about two familiar events: baking cookies and going to the beach. Of the sample, 22 children in a description condition described each of 6 line drawings for each event. Another…

After viewing sequences of pictures that depicted a problem, children produced stories with plots and character responses. After sequences of uneventful pictures, children produced stories that focused on actions and used simple connectives. First graders' stories contained more goals, complex language, and temporal connectives than did those of…