The development of young children's memory strategies: First findings from the Würzburg Longitudinal Memory Study

This article reports the first findings of the Würzburg Longitudinal Memory Study, which focuses on children's verbal memory development, particularly the acquisition of memory strategies. At the beginning of the study, 100 kindergarten children (mean age 6 1/2 years) were tested on various memory measures, including sort-recall, text recall, short-term memory capacity, and metamemory. Assessments were repeated twice, with adjacent measurement points separated by 6-month time intervals. One major goal of the initial phase of the study concerned the exploration of the utilization deficiency phenomenon, which refers to the fact that young children who spontaneously use a memory strategy for the first time do not experience immediate memory benefits. Results obtained for the sort-recall task showed that, among those children who acquired a sorting strategy between Times 1 and 2, only a small proportion experienced the utilization deficiency problem. Additional analyses demonstrated that these few children also performed more poorly on the short-term memory tasks and the text recall measure when compared with the groups of efficient strategy users, suggesting that utilization deficiency is accompanied by a more general memory capacity problem. Overall, the findings revealed enormous variability in the early acquisition of memory strategies, indicating that the utilization deficiency phenomenon might not be as frequent as is assumed in the relevant literature.     

What can we learn about immediate memory from the development of children's free recall?

We ask the question: Which aspects of immediate memory performance improve with age? In two studies, we reexamine the widely held view that primary memory capacity estimates derived from children's immediate free recall are age invariant. This was done by assessing children's immediate free-recall accuracy while also measuring the order in which they elected to recall items (Experiment 1) and by encouraging children to begin free recall with items from towards the end of the presented list (Experiment 2). Across samples aged between 5 and 8 years we replicated the previously reported age-related changes in free-recall serial position functions when aggregated across all trials of the standard task, including an absence of age differences in the recency portion of this curve. However, we also show that this does not reflect the fact that primary memory capacity is constant across age. Instead, when we incorporate order of report information, clear age differences are evident in the recall of list-final items that are output at the start of a participant's response. In addition, the total amount that individuals recalled varied little across different types of free-recall tasks. These findings have clear implications for the use of immediate free recall as a means of providing potential indices of primary memory capacity and in the study of the development of immediate memory.     

The development of children's action memory: When do actions speak louder than words?

Summary Although acting consistently has been found to improve memory, the reasons for this are unclear. In this investigation, we tested whether acting improves recall by integrating separate elements within an action into an organized whole and whether this process may be strategic. First graders, fourth graders, and college-aged adults listened to, acted out, or watched the performance of action-object phrases and then verbally reported or enacted the phrases. Phrases composed of transitive verbs were expected to be integrated more by action than phrases composed of intransitive verbs, and consequently recalled better, especially by the younger children. Recall increased between first and fourth grades, suggesting that some aspects of action memory may be strategic; however, there was no evidence that acting improves recall by means of integration. The pattern of results suggested that the nature of an action's outcome may contribute to the enactment effect.     

Explorations of anticipatory behavioral control (ABC): a report from the cognitive psychology unit of the University of Würzburg

The report comprises recent theoretical considerations, experimental research, and simulations which all aim at a clarification of anticipatory mechanisms of behavioral control.     

The development of category learning strategies: What makes the difference?

Category learning can be achieved by identifying common features among category members, distinctive features among non-members, or both. These processes are psychologically and computationally distinct, and may have implications for the acquisition of categories at different hierarchical levels. The present study examines an account of children’s difficulty in acquiring categories at the subordinate level grounded on these distinct comparison processes. Adults and children performed category learning tasks in which they were exposed either to pairs of objects from the same novel category or pairs of objects from different categories. The objects were designed so that for each category learning task, two features determined category membership whereas two other features were task irrelevant. In the learning stage participants compared pairs of objects noted to be either from the same category or from different categories. Object pairs were chosen so that the objective amount of information provided to the participants was identical in the two learning conditions. We found that when presented only with object pairs noted to be from the same category, young children (6 ? YO ? 9.5) learned the novel categories just as well as older children (10 ? YO ? 14) and adults. However, when presented only with object pairs known to be from different categories, unlike older children and adults, young children failed to learn the novel categories. We discuss cognitive and computational factors that may give rise to this comparison bias, as well as its expected outcomes.     

The credibility of children's testimony: can children control the accuracy of their memory reports?

In previous work with adults (A. Koriat & M. Goldsmith, 1994, 1996c), it was shown that people can enhance the accuracy of their testimony substantially when they (a) are effective in monitoring the correctness of their answers, (b) are free to control their reporting accordingly (i.e., to decide which pieces of information to volunteer and which to withhold), and (c) are given incentives for accurate reporting. A theoretical model was developed, which specifies the critical role of metacognitive monitoring and control processes in mediating free-report memory accuracy. The present study applies that model to examine the strategic regulation of memory accuracy by children. Three experiments indicate that both younger (ages 7 to 9) and older (ages 10 to 12) children can enhance the accuracy of their testimony by screening out wrong answers under free-report conditions but suggest a developmental trend in the level of memory accuracy that is thereby achieved. The implications of the results for the dependability of children's testimony in legal settings are discussed.     

The origin of children's implanted false memories: Memory traces or compliance?

A longstanding question in false memory research is whether children's implanted false memories represent actual memory traces or merely result from compliance. The current study examined this question using a response latency based deception task. Forty-five 8-year-old children received narratives about a true (first day at school) and false event (hot air balloon ride). Across two interviews, 58/32% of the participants developed a partial/full false memory. Interestingly, these children also showed higher false recall on an unrelated DRM paradigm compared to children without a false memory. The crucial finding, however, was that the results of the deception task revealed that children with partial and full false memories were faster to confirm than to deny statements relating to the false event. This indicates that children's implanted false memories reflect actual memory traces, and are unlikely to be explained by mere compliance.     

Can the memory enhancement of the survival judgment task be explained by the elaboration hypothesis?: Evidence from a memory load paradigm1

Many reports have described a survival judgment task that requires participants to judge words according to their relevance to a survival situation, eliciting better recall than that obtained in other judgment tasks (e.g., semantic or self‐judgment tasks). Two explanatory hypotheses (the adaptive hypothesis and the elaboration hypothesis) have been proposed. Here we used the memory load paradigm to investigate whether the adaptive hypothesis or the combination hypothesis can better account for the memory enhancement of the survival judgment task. We used a survival judgment task and an autobiographical recall task with the condition of no memory load or memory load. The 48 participants performed four encoding conditions (memory load—survival, no memory load—survival, memory load—autobiographical, and no memory load—autobiographical). The results showed that memory enhancement of the survival judgment task occurred only in the no memory load condition, but not in the memory load condition. Our results support the elaboration hypothesis. We also discuss the validity of the elaboration hypothesis and future directions to be pursued in this research field.     

Offspring Effects of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure from Birth to 25 Years: The Seattle Prospective Longitudinal Study

Before alcohol was generally known to cause birth defects, NIAAA in 1974 began funding a population-based Seattle study on alcohol use and pregnancy outcome. Women receiving prenatal care by mid-pregnancy were recruited (N = 1,529) and interviewed at home. Approximately 500 offspring exposed to a range of alcohol levels were examined on 11 occasions between day 1 and 25 years. Neuropsychological and neurobehavioral performance measures are correlated with prenatal alcohol dose, without substantial confounding by socio-demographic or rearing conditions, smoking, nutrition, or other drugs. Deficits in attention, arithmetic skill, spatial-visual memory, and IQ, as well as increased alcohol problems and psychiatric disorders are among offspring outcomes correlated at several ages with maternal drinking during and before pregnancy recognition. Findings are not confined to women who believed they had alcohol problems. Not all exposed offspring appear affected.     

Calculation latency: The μ of memory and the τ of transformation

Does numeral format (e.g., 4 + 8 vs. four + eight) affect calculation per se? University students (N=47) solved single-digit addition problems presented as Arabic digits or English words and reported their strategies (memory retrieval or procedures such as counting or transformation). Decomposition of the response time (RT) distributions into μ (reflecting shift) and t (reflecting skew) confirmed that retrieval trials contributed predominantly to μ, whereas procedure trials contributed predominantly to τ. The format × problem size RT interaction (i.e., greater word-format RT costs for large problems than for small problems) was associated entirely with μ and not with τ. Reported use of procedures presented a corresponding format × size interaction. Together, these results indicate that, relative to the well-practiced digit format, the unfamiliar word format disrupts number-fact retrieval and promotes use of procedural strategies.     

The “Blurring” of the Lifecourse: Narrative, Memory and the Question of Authenticity

The view that aging provokes its own form of masquerade raises the question of what lies behind the mask and whether it is possible to outline what an authentic existence in later life might be like. Contemporary trends toward a narrative explanation of identity, exemplified by the growth of narrative therapies, may pose particular difficulties for theorising about aging. These therapies are associated with a submersion of the personal and social past under demands in the here and now and the de-contextualisation of old age from the lifecourse as it has been lived. Memory and lifecourse context are examined as possible foundations for authenticity and a model is suggested that contains postmodern preoccupations with multiple identity choices, the personal past and the possibilities for expression made available by particular social spaces or contexts.     

The Primacy of the “Shoulds”: Where Is the Evidence?

A central tenet of rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) has always been that irrational beliefs which express demands through absolutistic shoulds, musts or oughts are the basic cause of emotional disturbance. This premise is characteristic of Ellis' theory but is not always supported by other REBT writers or other writers within the cognitive therapy field. This paper reviews a range of research findings which appear to call into question Ellis' tenet of the primacy of the shoulds and which, in turn, raise theoretical and methodological difficulties in the measurement of beliefs. This along with the current theoretical debate regarding irrational belief processes may preclude the possibility of testing the proposition that demandingness is the primary irrational or dysfunctional belief.     

Chinese Children’s Knowledge of Topicalization: Experimental Evidence from a Comprehension Study

There is a debate as to whether topic structures in Chinese involve A’-movement or result from base-generation of the topic in the left periphery. If Chinese topicalization was derived by movement, under the assumptions of Friedmann et al.’s Relativized Minimality (Lingua 119:67–88, 2009), we would expect children’s comprehension of object topicalization (with OSV order) to be worse than their comprehension of subject topicalization (with SVO order). This study examined 146 Mandarin-speaking children from age three to age six by means of a picture-sentence matching task with an appropriate context. The results showed a subject/object asymmetry when the topic marker is overt, and no asymmetry when the topic marker is covert. This suggests that the presence or absence of topic markers play an important role in children’s comprehension of topicalization. We propose that both structures involve movement in the adult grammar, but not in the child grammar, at least initially. Sentences without overt topic markers are base-generated on a par with gapless sentences with a topic, and the base-generation analysis is abandoned as soon as children learn the syntax and semantics of topic markers, which function as attractors of topics.     

Do health behaviors explain the effect of neuroticism on mortality? Longitudinal findings from the VA Normative Aging Study

Studies have shown that higher levels of neuroticism are associated with greater risk of mortality. Yet what accounts for this association? One major theoretical position holds that persons higher in neuroticism engage in poorer health behaviors, such as smoking and excessive drinking, thus leading to earlier death. We tested this hypothesis using 30-year mortality in 1788 men from the VA Normative Aging Study. Using proportional hazards (Cox) models we found that one health behavior, smoking, attenuated the effect of neuroticism on mortality by 40%. However, 60% remained unexplained, suggesting that the effects of other pathways (e.g., biological) also influence the relationship between neuroticism and mortality.     

Cognitive Development in Young-old Type-2 Diabetes Patients: A Longitudinal Analysis From The “Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study of Aging”

In the present study, we investigated cognitive status and cognitive development in young-old Type-2 diabetes patients. Extending previous research, using the sample of the ILSE study (“Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study of Aging”), we applied a comprehensive cognitive test battery to 38 Type-2 diabetes patients (mean age at T1: 63 years) and 421 control participants and tested both cognitive status and longitudinal changes after four years in several cognitive domains (crystallized intelligence, verbal memory, visual memory, executive functioning, psychomotor speed, and fluid intelligence). Results revealed no cross-sectional group differences in any cognitive domain at T1 nor at T2. However, testing group differences in intraindividual change over time, reliable group differences in the change of crystallized intelligence and fluid intelligence were revealed. While controls improved in crystallized intelligence as well as in fluid intelligence over time, diabetes patients’ performance decreased. The results demonstrate that in young-old adults the effects of diabetes on cognition may only be detected by analyzing within-person changes instead of mean level differences.

The flanker effect does not reflect the processing of “task-irrelevant” stimuli: Evidence from inattentional blindness

It is often the case that stimuli (or aspects of a stimulus) are referred to as being “task-irrelevant.” Here, we recount where this label originated and argue that the use of this label is at odds with the concept of “relevance” that has arisen in the contingent-capture literature. This is not merely a matter of labels, but a matter of inference: When people describe a flanker stimulus as being “task-irrelevant,” they may be (and sometimes are) tempted to infer that the conditions that were studied in the flanker task generalize to other tasks and other types of stimuli. Here, we show that this generalization is not warranted. The flanker effect exists not because attention has failed at selecting only the target from the display, but rather, the effect arises precisely because attention succeeded at selecting target-like (i.e., attentionally relevant) stimuli from the display. As a result, the flanker effect should not be used to infer how stimuli that are entirely unrelated to a participant’s main task would be processed. We propose the use of a new terminology to replace this potentially misleading label.     

Potentiation in young infants: The origin of the prior knowledge effect?

In two experiments with 6-month-old infants, we found that prior learning of an operant task (remembered for 2 weeks) mediated new learning of a modeling event (remembered for only 1 day) and increased its recall. Infants first learned to associate lever pressing with moving a toy train housed in a large box. One or 2 weeks later, three target actions were modeled on a hand puppet while the train box (a retrieval cue) was in view. Merely retrieving the train memory strengthened it, and simultaneously pairing its retrieved memory with the modeled actions potentiated their learning and recall. When paired 1 week later, deferred imitation increased from 1 day to 4 weeks; when paired 2 weeks later, it increased from 1 day to 6 weeks. The striking parallels between potentiated learning in infants and the prior knowledge effect in adults suggests that the prior knowledge effect originates in early infancy.     

Adolescents of the USA National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study: Can Family Characteristics Counteract the Negative Effects of Stigmatization?

This investigation examines the impact of homophobic stigmatization on the well-being of 17-year-old adolescents who were conceived through donor insemination and whose mothers enrolled before they were born in the largest, longest-running, prospective study of lesbian families, with a 93% retention rate to date. The data for the current report were collected through questionnaires completed by the adolescents and their mothers. The adolescents (39 girls and 39 boys) were queried about family connection and compatibility. They were also asked to indicate if they had experienced discrimination based on their mothers' sexual orientation. Adolescent well-being was assessed through the parental report of the Child Behavior Checklist/6-18. Forty-one percent of the adolescents had experienced stigmatization based on homophobia. Hierarchical, multiple-regression analyses revealed that stigmatization was associated with more problem behavior in these adolescents, but that family compatibility neutralized this negative influence. The results indicate that adolescents who have close, positive relationships with their lesbian mothers demonstrate resilience in response to stigmatization.