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Guo P, Carey E, Plaisted-Grant K, Cheke LG. Episodic memory during middle childhood: What is developing? J Exp Child Psychol 2024; 240:105828. [PMID: 38104459 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2023.105828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Revised: 09/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/14/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
Whereas previous research has concentrated on the emergence of episodic memory during the early years, fewer investigations have explored the details of this development through middle and late childhood. Considerable variation in task demands and testing methodologies have rendered the trajectory of episodic memory during this period unclear, particularly with regard to which elements are in a state of change at which time. This study separately assessed memory for item, location, and temporal order, as well as integrated what-where-when (WWW) information using a WWW memory test (the Treasure Hunt task), with 84 children aged 6 to 12 years. Two versions of the task were used, varying in the degree of retrieval support while keeping encoding constant. Results show that episodic memory continued to develop across this period, with individual item, spatial, temporal, and WWW memory all improving relatively linearly with age. These improvements were underpinned by both the associative binding and strategic control processes. These findings suggest that it is not any one element of episodic memory that is driving development during this period but that all aspects are continuing to mature in parallel.
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Affiliation(s)
- Panyuan Guo
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Emma Carey
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
| | | | - Lucy G Cheke
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK.
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2
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Coughlin C, Pudhiyidath A, Roome HE, Varga NL, Nguyen KV, Preston AR. Asynchronous development of memory integration and differentiation influences temporal memory organization. Dev Sci 2024; 27:e13437. [PMID: 37608740 PMCID: PMC10884351 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2022] [Revised: 06/13/2023] [Accepted: 07/08/2023] [Indexed: 08/24/2023]
Abstract
Adults remember items with shared contexts as occurring closer in time to one another than those associated with different contexts, even when their objective temporal distance is fixed. Such temporal memory biases are thought to reflect within-event integration and between-event differentiation processes that organize events according to their contextual similarities and differences, respectively. Within-event integration and between-event differentiation are hypothesized to differentially rely on binding and control processes, which may develop at different ages. To test this hypothesis, 5- to 12-year-olds and adults (N = 134) studied quartets of image pairs that contained either the same scene (same-context) or different scenes (different-context). Participants remembered same-context items as occurring closer in time by older childhood (7-9 years), whereas different-context items were remembered as occurring farther apart by early adolescence (10-12 years). The differential emergence of these temporal memory biases suggests within-event integration and between-event differentiation emerge at different ages. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Children are less likely than adults to use contextual information (e.g., location) to organize their continuous experience in memory, as indicated by temporal memory biases. Biases reflecting within-event integration (i.e., remembering elements with a shared context as occurring closer together in time) emerged in late childhood. Biases reflecting between-event differentiation (i.e., remembering elements from different contexts as occurring farther apart in time) emerged in early adolescence. The differential emergence of biases reflecting within-event integration and between-event differentiation suggests they are distinct, yet complementary, processes that support developmental improvements in event memory organization.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Athula Pudhiyidath
- Center for Learning and Memory, University of Texas at Austin
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin
| | - Hannah E. Roome
- Center for Learning and Memory, University of Texas at Austin
| | - Nicole L. Varga
- Center for Learning and Memory, University of Texas at Austin
| | - Kim V. Nguyen
- Center for Learning and Memory, University of Texas at Austin
| | - Alison R. Preston
- Center for Learning and Memory, University of Texas at Austin
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin
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3
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Leckey S, Bhagath S, Johnson EG, Ghetti S. Attention to novelty interferes with toddlers' emerging memory decision-making. Child Dev 2024; 95:98-113. [PMID: 37409734 PMCID: PMC10770300 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2022] [Revised: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 06/08/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023]
Abstract
Memory decision-making in 26- to 32-month-olds was investigated using visual-paired comparison paradigms, requiring toddlers to select familiar stimuli (Active condition) or view familiar and novel stimuli (Passive condition). In Experiment 1 (N = 108, 54.6% female, 62% White; replication N = 98), toddlers with higher accuracy in the Active condition showed reduced novelty preference in that condition, but not in the Passive condition (d = -.11). In Experiment 2 (N = 78; 52.6% female; 70.5% White), a brief 5% increase in target size boosted gaze transitions across conditions (d = .50) and accuracy in the Active condition (d = .53). Overall, evidence suggests that better attentional distribution can support decision-making. Research was conducted between 2014 and 2020 in Northern California.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Leckey
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis
| | - Shefali Bhagath
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis
| | | | - Simona Ghetti
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis
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4
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Forest TA, Abolghasem Z, Finn AS, Schlichting ML. Memories of structured input become increasingly distorted across development. Child Dev 2023; 94:e279-e295. [PMID: 37161780 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13940] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Trajectories of cognitive and neural development suggest that, despite early emergence, the ability to extract environmental patterns changes across childhood. Here, 5- to 9-year-olds and adults (N = 211, 110 females, in a large Canadian city) completed a memory test assessing what they remembered after watching a stream of shape triplets: the particular sequence in which the shapes occurred and/or their group-level structure. After accounting for developmental improvements in overall memory, all ages remembered specific transitions, while memory for group membership was only observed in older children and adults (age by test-type interaction η2 = .05). Thus, while young children form memories for specifics of structured experience, memory for derived associations is refined later-underscoring that adults and young children form different memories despite identical experience.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Zahra Abolghasem
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Amy S Finn
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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5
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Pathman T, Deker L, Coughlin C, Ghetti S. Examining Temporal Memory and Flexible Retrieval of Conventional Time Knowledge across Middle to Late Childhood. JOURNAL OF COGNITION AND DEVELOPMENT 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/15248372.2022.2072846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Thanujeni Pathman
- Department of Psychology and Center for Mind and Brain, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Lina Deker
- Department of Psychology and Center for Mind and Brain, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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6
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Blankenship TL, Calkins SD, Bell MA. The Role of Executive Functions in Item Recognition and Temporal Order Memory Development. JOURNAL OF COGNITION AND DEVELOPMENT 2022; 23:135-147. [PMID: 35264909 PMCID: PMC8901123 DOI: 10.1080/15248372.2021.1964504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Item recognition and temporal order memory follow different developmental trajectories during middle childhood, with item recognition performance stabilizing and temporal order memory performance continuing to improve. We investigated the potential unique role of individual executive functions on item recognition and temporal order memory during this critical development period. Our results replicate and expand on previous findings, suggesting that executive functions, specifically inhibitory control and working memory, may be more crucial for successful temporal order memory than for item recognition during middle childhood.
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7
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Scales ML, Pathman T. Flexible retrieval of semantic knowledge predicts temporal memory, but not memory for other types of context, in 4-6-year-olds. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2021.101080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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8
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Selmeczy D, Kazemi A, Ghetti S. Developmental Differences in Subjective Recollection and Its Role in Decision Making. Child Dev 2021; 92:e1308-e1325. [PMID: 34166536 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13611] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
We examined how subjective assessments of recollection guide decision making. Subjective recollection was dissociated from accuracy during a forced-choice recognition task. Distracters were either similar to targets (match condition) or to other studied, but untested items (nonmatch condition). We assessed 223 participants (112 males) across three experiments (137 White, 37 Asian-American, 7 African-American, 4 American-Indian, 32 mixed race, 6 undisclosed). In Experiment 1, 6- to 10-year-olds and adults (N = 119) were less accurate (d = 0.70), but more likely to claim subjective recollection and make memory selections in anticipation of a reward in the nonmatch condition (ds = 0.64-0.70). This pattern was eliminated in 6- to 7-year-olds when we limited the number of selections (Experiment 2, N = 52), but was replicated when we required the selections to be counted (Experiment 3, N = 52), underscoring the effects of decision complexity on children's self-reflections.
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Deker L, Pathman T. Did I visit the polar bear before the giraffe? Examining memory for temporal order and the temporal distance effect in early to middle childhood. APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/acp.3804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lina Deker
- Department of Psychology, York University Toronto Ontario Canada
| | - Thanujeni Pathman
- Department of Psychology, York University Toronto Ontario Canada
- LaMarsh Centre for Child and Youth Research, York University Toronto Ontario Canada
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10
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Price HL, Evans AD. With support, children can accurately sequence within‐event components. APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/acp.3816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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11
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Bettencourt KM, Everett LH, Chen Y, Pathman T. Examining the development of memory for temporal context and its underlying neural processes using event-related potentials. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2021; 48:100932. [PMID: 33588211 PMCID: PMC7890374 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2021.100932] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2020] [Revised: 01/14/2021] [Accepted: 01/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Memory for temporal context, vital for episodic memory, shows prolonged development. Cognitive processes and neural mechanisms driving age-related improvements unclear. Event-related potentials (ERP) used with 7−9-year-olds, 10−12-year-olds, and adults. We found age-related improvements, ERP effects, and brain-behavior relations. Implications for temporal memory and episodic memory development discussed.
Time is a critical feature of episodic memory—memory for events from a specific time and place (Tulving, 1972). Previous research indicates that temporal memory (memory for ‘when’) is slower to develop than memory for other details (e.g., ‘what’ and ‘where’), with improvements observed across middle and late childhood. The factors that drive these changes are not yet clear. We used an event-related potential (ERP) recognition memory paradigm to investigate the underlying processes of memory for temporal context in middle to late childhood (7−9-year-olds; 10−12-year-olds) and young adulthood. Behaviorally, we observed age-related improvements in the ability to place events in temporal context. ERP analyses showed old/new effects for children and adults. We also found brain-behavior relations for 1) episodic memory (ERP mean amplitude difference between source hits and correctly identified new trials was correlated to behavioral accuracy), and 2) temporal memory (ERP mean amplitude difference between source hits and source error trials was correlated to accuracy of temporal memory judgments). This work furthers our understanding of the cognitive processes and neural signatures supporting temporal memory development in middle to late childhood, and has implications for episodic memory development more broadly.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Yixin Chen
- University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA
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12
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Canada KL, Pathman T, Riggins T. Longitudinal Development of Memory for Temporal Order in Early to Middle Childhood. J Genet Psychol 2020; 181:237-254. [PMID: 32252609 PMCID: PMC7446139 DOI: 10.1080/00221325.2020.1741504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2019] [Revised: 03/03/2020] [Accepted: 03/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Existing studies examining the development of temporal order memory show that although young children perform above chance on some tasks assessing temporal order memory, there are significant age-related differences across childhood. Yet, the trajectory of children's ability to retrieve temporal order remains unclear as existing conclusions are drawn from cross-sectional studies. The present study utilized an accelerated longitudinal design in order to characterize the developmental trajectory of temporal order memory in a sample of 200 healthy 4- to 8-year-old children. Specifically, two tasks commonly used in the literature were tested longitudinally: a primacy judgment task and an ordering task. Results revealed that, even after controlling for differences in IQ, linearly increasing trajectories characterized age-related change in performance for both tasks; however, change appeared greater for the temporal ordering task. Further, performance on the two tasks was positively related, suggesting shared underlying mechanisms. These findings provide a more thorough understanding of temporal order memory in early to middle childhood by characterizing the developmental trajectories of two commonly used tasks and have important implications for our understanding of children's developing memory more broadly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelsey L. Canada
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College
Park, USA
| | | | - Tracy Riggins
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College
Park, USA
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13
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Arterberry ME, Albright EJ. Children's Memory for Temporal Information: The Roles of Temporal Language and Executive Function. The Journal of Genetic Psychology 2020; 181:191-205. [PMID: 32186258 DOI: 10.1080/00221325.2020.1741503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
The ability to recall the temporal order of events develops much more slowly than the ability to recall facts about events. To explore what processes facilitate memory for temporal information, we tested 3- to 6-year-old children (N = 40) for immediate memory of the temporal order of events from a storybook, using a visual timeline task and a yes/no recognition task. In addition, children completed tasks assessing their understanding of before and after and the executive functions of inhibition using the Day/Night Stroop task and cognitive shifting using the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) task. Older children (Mage = 69.25 months) outperformed younger children (Mage = 52.35 months) on all measures; however, the only significant predictor of memory for the temporal ordering of events was cognitive shifting. The findings suggest that the difficulty in memory for temporal information is related to development of a general cognitive ability, as indexed by the DCCS, rather than specific temporal abilities.
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14
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Pudhiyidath A, Roome HE, Coughlin C, Nguyen KV, Preston AR. Developmental differences in temporal schema acquisition impact reasoning decisions. Cogn Neuropsychol 2020; 37:25-45. [PMID: 31597512 PMCID: PMC7145737 DOI: 10.1080/02643294.2019.1667316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2019] [Revised: 08/30/2019] [Accepted: 09/06/2019] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Schemas capture patterns across multiple experiences, accumulating information about common event structures that guide decision making in new contexts. Schemas are an important principle of leading theories of cognitive development; yet, we know little about how children and adolescents form schemas and use schematic knowledge to guide decisions. Here, we show that the ability to acquire schematic knowledge based on the temporal regularities of events increases during childhood and adolescence. Furthermore, we show that temporally mediated schematic knowledge biases reasoning decisions in an age-dependent manner. Participants with greater temporal schematic knowledge were more likely to infer that temporally related items shared other, non-temporal properties, with adults showing the greatest relationship between schema knowledge and reasoning choices. These data indicate that the mechanisms underlying schema formation and expression are not fully developed until adulthood and may reflect the ongoing maturation of hippocampus and prefrontal cortex through adolescence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Athula Pudhiyidath
- Center for Learning and Memory, University of Texas at Austin
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin
| | - Hannah E. Roome
- Center for Learning and Memory, University of Texas at Austin
| | | | - Kim V. Nguyen
- Center for Learning and Memory, University of Texas at Austin
| | - Alison R. Preston
- Center for Learning and Memory, University of Texas at Austin
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin
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15
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Lee JK, Fandakova Y, Johnson EG, Cohen NJ, Bunge SA, Ghetti S. Changes in anterior and posterior hippocampus differentially predict item-space, item-time, and item-item memory improvement. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2020; 41:100741. [PMID: 31826840 PMCID: PMC6994624 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2019] [Revised: 10/30/2019] [Accepted: 11/27/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Relational memory improves during middle childhood and adolescence, yet the neural correlates underlying those improvements are debated. Although memory for spatial, temporal, and other associative relations requires the hippocampus, it is not established whether within-individual changes in hippocampal structure contribute to memory improvements from middle childhood into adolescence. Here, we investigated how structural changes in hippocampal head, body, and tail subregions predict improvements in the capacity to remember item-space, item-time, and item-item relations. Memory for each relation and volumes of hippocampal subregions were assessed longitudinally in 171 participants across 3 time points (Mage at T1 = 9.45 years; Mage at T2 = 10.86 years, Mage at T3 = 12.12 years; comprising 393 behavioral assessments and 362 structural scans). Among older children, volumetric growth in: (a) head and body predicted improvements in item-time memory, (b) head predicted improvements in item-item memory; and (c) right tail predicted improvements in item-space memory. The present research establishes that changes in hippocampal structure are related to improvements in relational memory, and that sub-regional changes in hippocampal volume differentially predict changes in different aspects of relational memory. These findings underscore a division of labor along the anterior-posterior axis of the hippocampus during child development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua K Lee
- MIND Institute, University of California Davis Health, Sacramento, CA, 95817, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California Davis Health, Sacramento, CA, 95817, USA.
| | - Yana Fandakova
- Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, 14195, Germany
| | - Elliott G Johnson
- Human Development Graduate Group, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA; Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, CA, 95618, USA
| | - Neal J Cohen
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA
| | - Silvia A Bunge
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Simona Ghetti
- Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, CA, 95618, USA; Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA.
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16
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Yamashiro A, Shrout PE, Vouloumanos A. Using Spline Models to Analyze Event-Based Changes in Eye Tracking Data. JOURNAL OF COGNITION AND DEVELOPMENT 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/15248372.2019.1583231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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17
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Space and time in episodic memory: Effects of linearity and directionality on memory for spatial location and temporal order in children and adults. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0206999. [PMID: 30408077 PMCID: PMC6224083 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0206999] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2018] [Accepted: 10/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Episodic memory is a critical capacity that involves remembering past events along with their spatial and temporal contexts. Relatively little is known about the relations between spatial and temporal information in long-term memory in children or adults. The present research examined the influence of the mental timeline (linear horizontal display extending from the left to right direction for English speakers) on memory for events and their spatial and temporal features in 7-year-olds, 9-year-olds, 11-year-olds and young adults (N = 146). During encoding, participants studied triplets of objects, varying on two dimensions of the mental timeline: linearity (whether objects were presented in linear succession or not) and direction (whether objects were presented from left-to-right or right-to-left). After a delay, during retrieval, participants were tested on their memory for individual objects, and either the spatial location or temporal order of the objects. We found that overall accuracy for spatial location was higher than accuracy for temporal order, and there was a parallel developmental trajectory for both these aspects of memory. Across age groups we found that memory for temporal order, but not spatial location, was influenced by linearity and direction (i.e., match to mental timeline). Thus, in both children and adults the spatiotemporal mental timeline supported memory for temporal order, converging with predictions generated within domains of language and thought and enhancing our understanding of how space and time are represented in the mind.
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18
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Ghetti S, Coughlin C. Stuck in the Present? Constraints on Children's Episodic Prospection. Trends Cogn Sci 2018; 22:846-850. [PMID: 30266144 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2018.07.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2018] [Revised: 07/18/2018] [Accepted: 07/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The examination of children's ability to simulate their future has gained increased attention, and recent discoveries highlight limitations in this ability that extend into adolescence. We propose an account for this protracted developmental trajectory, which encompasses consideration of retrieval flexibility across timescales and self-knowledge. We also identify avenues for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simona Ghetti
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, 135 Young Hall, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA; Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, 267 Cousteau Place, Davis, CA, 95618, USA.
| | - Christine Coughlin
- Center for Learning and Memory, The University of Texas at Austin, 100 East 24th Street, Austin, TX 78712, USA
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20
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Bauer PJ, Stewart R, Sirkin RE, Larkina M. Robust memory of where from way back when: evidence from behaviour and visual attention. Memory 2016; 25:1089-1109. [PMID: 28029057 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2016.1265130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Retention of events typically exhibits a sharp initial decrease followed by levelling off of forgetting. In an apparent exception to this general rule, college students have robust memory for their own locations in obscured versions of photographs of their entering classes taken during orientation-related activities, whether tested 2 months or 42 months after the event. Experiment 1 of the present research was a test for conceptual replication of this finding in photographs depicting more than twice the number of students (and thus potential distracters). There was no difference in memory accuracy for personal spatial location across retention intervals of 6-30 months. Experiment 2 featured 40-h and 2-month retention intervals, thereby providing a more fine-grained test of the forgetting function. The findings replicated Experiment 1. In Experiment 3, eye-tracking measures of visual attention revealed that participants rapidly fixated their own spatial locations within the photographs, even in the absence of explicit awareness. In all three experiments, memory for temporal features of the orientation activities (e.g., day and time the photograph was taken) followed the typical forgetting function. The findings suggest differential preservation of episodic memory for where relative to other aspects of events and experiences, such as when.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patricia J Bauer
- a Department of Psychology , Emory University , Atlanta , GA , USA
| | - Rebekah Stewart
- a Department of Psychology , Emory University , Atlanta , GA , USA
| | - Ruth E Sirkin
- a Department of Psychology , Emory University , Atlanta , GA , USA
| | - Marina Larkina
- a Department of Psychology , Emory University , Atlanta , GA , USA
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21
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Rondina R, Curtiss K, Meltzer JA, Barense MD, Ryan JD. The organisation of spatial and temporal relations in memory. Memory 2016; 25:436-449. [PMID: 27184459 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2016.1182553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Episodic memories are comprised of details of "where" and "when"; spatial and temporal relations, respectively. However, evidence from behavioural, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging studies has provided mixed interpretations about how memories for spatial and temporal relations are organised-they may be hierarchical, fully interactive, or independent. In the current study, we examined the interaction of memory for spatial and temporal relations. Using explicit reports and eye-tracking, we assessed younger and older adults' memory for spatial and temporal relations of objects that were presented singly across time in unique spatial locations. Explicit change detection of spatial relations was affected by a change in temporal relations, but explicit change detection of temporal relations was not affected by a change in spatial relations. Younger and older adults showed eye movement evidence of incidental memory for temporal relations, but only younger adults showed eye movement evidence of incidental memory for spatial relations. Together, these findings point towards a hierarchical organisation of relational memory. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of the neural mechanisms that may support such a hierarchical organisation of memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renante Rondina
- a Rotman Research Institute , Baycrest, Toronto , ON , Canada.,b Department of Psychology , University of Toronto , Toronto , ON , Canada
| | - Kaitlin Curtiss
- a Rotman Research Institute , Baycrest, Toronto , ON , Canada
| | - Jed A Meltzer
- a Rotman Research Institute , Baycrest, Toronto , ON , Canada.,b Department of Psychology , University of Toronto , Toronto , ON , Canada
| | - Morgan D Barense
- b Department of Psychology , University of Toronto , Toronto , ON , Canada
| | - Jennifer D Ryan
- a Rotman Research Institute , Baycrest, Toronto , ON , Canada.,b Department of Psychology , University of Toronto , Toronto , ON , Canada.,c Department of Psychiatry , University of Toronto , Toronto , ON , Canada
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Pathman T, Ghetti S. More to it than meets the eye: how eye movements can elucidate the development of episodic memory. Memory 2016; 24:721-36. [PMID: 26999263 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2016.1155870] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
The ability to recognise past events along with the contexts in which they occurred is a hallmark of episodic memory, a critical capacity. Eye movements have been shown to track veridical memory for the associations between events and their contexts (relational binding). Such eye-movement effects emerge several seconds before, or in the absence of, explicit response, and are linked to the integrity and function of the hippocampus. Drawing from research from infancy through late childhood, and by comparing to investigations from typical adults, patient populations, and animal models, it seems increasingly clear that eye movements reflect item-item, item-temporal, and item-spatial associations in developmental populations. We analyse this line of work, identify missing pieces in the literature and outline future avenues of research, in order to help elucidate the development of episodic memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thanujeni Pathman
- a Department of Psychology , University of North Carolina at Greensboro , Greensboro , NC , USA
| | - Simona Ghetti
- b Department of Psychology , University of California , Davis , CA , USA
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Wang Q, Peterson C. The Fate of Childhood Memories: Children Postdated Their Earliest Memories as They Grew Older. Front Psychol 2016; 6:2038. [PMID: 26793149 PMCID: PMC4709485 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.02038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2015] [Accepted: 12/21/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Childhood amnesia has been attributed to the inaccessibility of early memories as children grow older. We propose that systematic biases in the age estimates of memories may play a role. A group of 4- to 9-year-olds children were followed for 8 years, recalling and dating their earliest childhood memories at three time points. Although children retained many of the memories over time, their age estimates of these memories shifted forward in time, to later ages. The magnitude of postdating was especially sizable for earlier memories and younger children such that some memories were dated more than a year later than originally. As a result, the boundary of childhood amnesia increased with age. These findings shed light on childhood amnesia and the fate of early memories. They further suggest that generally accepted estimates for people’s age of earliest memory may be wrong, which has far-reaching implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qi Wang
- Department of Human Development, Cornell University, Ithaca NY, USA
| | - Carole Peterson
- Department of Psychology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's NF, Canada
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Jack F, Friedman W, Reese E, Zajac R. Age-related differences in memory for time, temporal reconstruction, and the availability and use of temporal landmarks. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2015.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Relational Memory Is Evident in Eye Movement Behavior despite the Use of Subliminal Testing Methods. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0141677. [PMID: 26512726 PMCID: PMC4626025 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0141677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2015] [Accepted: 10/12/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
While it is generally agreed that perception can occur without awareness, there continues to be debate about the type of representational content that is accessible when awareness is minimized or eliminated. Most investigations that have addressed this issue evaluate access to well-learned representations. Far fewer studies have evaluated whether or not associations encountered just once prior to testing might also be accessed and influence behavior. Here, eye movements were used to examine whether or not memory for studied relationships is evident following the presentation of subliminal cues. Participants assigned to experimental or control groups studied scene-face pairs and test trials evaluated implicit and explicit memory for these pairs. Each test trial began with a subliminal scene cue, followed by three visible studied faces. For experimental group participants, one face was the studied associate of the scene (implicit test); for controls none were a match. Subsequently, the display containing a match was presented to both groups, but now it was preceded by a visible scene cue (explicit test). Eye movements were recorded and recognition memory responses were made. Participants in the experimental group looked disproportionately at matching faces on implicit test trials and participants from both groups looked disproportionately at matching faces on explicit test trials, even when that face had not been successfully identified as the associate. Critically, implicit memory-based viewing effects seemed not to depend on residual awareness of subliminal scene cues, as subjective and objective measures indicated that scenes were successfully masked from view. The reported outcomes indicate that memory for studied relationships can be expressed in eye movement behavior without awareness.
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Lee JK, Wendelken C, Bunge SA, Ghetti S. A Time and Place for Everything: Developmental Differences in the Building Blocks of Episodic Memory. Child Dev 2015; 87:194-210. [PMID: 26493950 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12447] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
This research investigated whether episodic memory development can be explained by improvements in relational binding processes, involved in forming novel associations between events and the context in which they occurred. Memory for item-space, item-time, and item-item relations was assessed in an ethnically diverse sample of 151 children aged 7-11 years and 28 young adults. Item-space memory reached adult performance by 9½ years, whereas item-time and item-item memory improved into adulthood. In path analysis, item-space, but not item-time best explained item-item memory. Across age groups, relational binding related to source memory and performance on standardized memory assessments. In conclusion, relational binding development depends on relation type, but relational binding overall supports episodic memory development.
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Pathman T, Ghetti S. Eye movements provide an index of veridical memory for temporal order. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0125648. [PMID: 25993437 PMCID: PMC4439145 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0125648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2014] [Accepted: 02/25/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The present research examined whether eye movements during retrieval capture the relation between an event and its temporal attributes. In two experiments (N=76), we found converging evidence that eye movements reflected the veridicality of memory for temporal order seconds before overt memory judgments, suggesting that these movements captured indirect access to temporal information. These eye movements did not entirely depend on the amount of contextual cueing available (Experiment 1) and reflected the unique ordinal position of an event in a sequence (Experiment 2). Based on our results, we conclude that eye movements reflected the absolute temporal order of past events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thanujeni Pathman
- Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Simona Ghetti
- Department of Psychology, University of California at Davis, Davis, California, United States of America
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