Only a longitudinal study, in which retrospective reports can be verified against data collected earlier, can determine what topics tend to be reported accurately and whether certain types of individuals are more likely to be accurate reporters. A representative group of adults who became parents 50 years ago are now part of the oldest and longest continuing longitudinal study of adulthood and aging. Husbands and wives (N=56) were first interviewed at mean age 29 and again at 47 and 69. Factual questions asked at each interview included education, occupation, and age at marriage of self and spouse. Attitudinal variables included reports of marital relationship, bond and relationship with child, and financial strain. Results showed systematic changes in reports over time and indicated that relevant circumstances exerted a strong influence on the recall of past events. For both men and women, retrospective reports of relationship with the child were more strongly associated with circumstances at the time of the report than with the past relationship. Overall accuracy did not change as subjects grew older and as the time span of the recollections increased. The findings suggest that relevant circumstances exert a strong influence on the recall of past events. (Author/NRB)