In order to study the influence on memorization of external inputs as well as children's own strategies, we examined both parental discourses in terms of distancing (Sigel, 1970) and spontaneous rehearsal by children during a memory task. Our aim was to assess the influence of each factor for children between 3 and 5 years of age. In our study of 72 parent-child dyads (36 dyads at 3 years and 36 dyads at 5 years), an initial factorial analysis revealed that parental discourse was organized on three levels of distancing: a basic level, a recontextualization level and a symbolic level. We also found that the children's memory performances at both ages were chiefly influenced by the symbolic level, the most cognitively demanding. Lastly, the children's rehearsal did not have any significant effect on memory performances, unlike their age, which was the primary predictor. A model featuring the various factors we studied is proposed in the discussion. (Contains 6 tables, 1 figure and 2 notes.)