Emotionand memory are examined within a developmental framework. The point of departure for thisdiscussion is the study of maltreated children whose traumatic experiences have been linked todifficulties in emotional development. It is suggested that cognitive processes such as memoryand attention serve to link experience with emotion and emotion with psychopathology. Thus, aninformation processing approach is used to explain the development of maltreatedchildren's adaptive and maladaptive coping responses. It is argued that maltreatedchildren's association of affective stimuli with traumatic experiences and memoriesselectively alters the meaning of emotions for these children. More generally, the role ofexperience and learning as a component of emotional development is emphasized.