Constructing a past in infancy: a neuro-developmental account

The ability to recall the past is fundamental yet until relatively recently, infants were assumed to lack the capacity. Contrary to this perspective, non-verbal tests indicate that developments in recall are well underway by late in the first year of life; by the end of the second year, long-term recall is reliable and robust. New research combining electrophysiological and behavioral measures is identifying the loci of age-related changes: they are attributed to more effective and efficient encoding, consolidation and storage processes associated with developments in the temporal-cortical network that subserves recall. The emerging framework, which applies to episodic and autobiographical memory, highlights the essential developmental continuities in memory from infancy onwards and sheds new light on the phenomenon of childhood amnesia.     

Phonological short‐term memory and vocabulary development: further evidence on the nature of the relationship

The nature and generality of the developmental association between phonological short‐term memory and vocabulary knowledge was explored in two studies. Study 1 investigated whether the link between vocabulary and verbal memory arises from the requirement to articulate memory items at recall or from earlier processes involved in the encoding and storage of the verbal material. Four‐year‐old children were tested on immediate memory measures which required either spoken recall (nonword repetition and digit span) or recognition of a sequence of nonwords. The phonological memory–vocabulary association was found to be as strong for the serial recognition as recall‐based measures, favouring the view that it is phonological short‐term memory capacity rather than speech output skills which constrain word learning. In Study 2, the association between phonological memory skills and vocabulary knowledge was found to be strong in teenaged as well as younger children, indicating that phonological memory constraints on word learning remain significant throughout childhood. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of an early interview on long‐term recall: a comparative analysis

Because of burgeoning participation by children in forensic situations there is significant concern about children's memory for stressful events. Influence of timing of the first interview and interview frequency on long‐term recall were evaluated by comparing three groups of 3‐ to 9‐year‐olds 1 year after an injury requiring emergency room treatment. One group had one interview, a year after injury; another group had two interviews, immediately and a year later; the third group had three interviews, immediately, 6 months and a year after injury. The type of event and timing of the initial interview influenced completeness and accuracy of recall after 1 year. All children showed extensive recall but having an immediate interview was associated with greater completeness and accuracy for 3–4‐year‐olds but not older children. This suggests a social influence: a highly structured and organized early interview may have beneficial effects on memory for preschoolers. Implications for questioning and testimony are discussed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The semantic‐similarity effect in children: Influence of long‐term knowledge on verbal short‐term memory

The present research was designed to highlight the relation between children's categorical knowledge and their verbal short‐term memory (STM) performance. To do this, we manipulated the categorical organization of the words composing lists to be memorized by 5‐ and 9‐year‐old children. Three types of word list were drawn up: semantically similar context‐dependent (CD) lists, semantically similar context‐independent (CI) lists, and semantically dissimilar lists. In line with the procedure used by Poirier and Saint‐Aubin (1995) , the dissimilar lists were produced using words from the semantically similar lists. Both 5‐ and 9‐year‐old children showed better recall for the semantically similar CD lists than they did for the unrelated lists. In the semantic similar CI condition, semantic similarity enhanced immediate serial recall only at age 9 but contributed to item information memory both at ages 5 and 9. These results, which indicate a semantic influence of long‐term memory (LTM) on serial recall from age 5, are discussed in the light of current models of STM. Moreover, we suggest that differences between results at 5 and 9 years are compatible with pluralist models of development.     

Multiple short‐term storage: A task to evaluate the coordination function of the central executive

The present paper explores one of the multiple aspects of working memory, specifically the coordinating function of the central executive with a complex double‐stimuli task. Performance on this task requires coordinating the short‐term maintenance of verbal as well as visuospatial information in preparation for recall. The task involves the single recall of words, the single recall of locations, or the recall of localized words. The study of the double‐stimuli task involves three classical interference tasks (articulatory suppression, Moar box tracking, and standing balance position) and comparing with simple span tasks (word recall and location recall). Word and location recall in this double‐stimuli task involves observing the classical interference effects: articulatory suppression impairs word recall performance without affecting location recall, whereas in visuospatial interference tasks the reverse is true. A second analysis showed that when performance on the double‐stimuli task (implying the simultaneous maintenance of verbal and visuospatial material at the same time) is compared with performances on short‐term memory tasks (classical word span or location span using the same material), a significant decrease in performance is observed. In a third analysis a score specific to the complex task was computed (corrected score). This score takes into account the recall capacity for both words and locations. This score, directly related to the capacities of coordination implied in the task, is sensitive to most attentional requirements of interference tasks. Contrary to what can be observed on location recall, the standing balance position did not significantly decrease performance. These results are consistent with an interpretation of the working memory according to which coordination of the subsystems is a function of the central executive.     

A year’s memories: The calendar effect in autobiographical recall

When asked to recall autobiographical events from the past year, students tend to recall more incidents from the beginning and the end of school terms than from other periods. We investigated thiscalendar effect in Experiment 1 by comparing free recall at schools with different academic calendars. The event distributions tracked the individual calendars, helping to eliminate the possibility that the calendar effect is due to seasonal, nonschool factors, such as holidays. In Experiments 2–4, we checked explanations based on the ideas that events at term boundaries are more important or distinctive than others, that events are incorrectly dated too near the boundaries, and that boundaries serve as implicit cues for recall. These experiments revealed no evidence that importance or errors in dating could explain the effect. Manipulating cues, however, did change the size of the effect, implicating retrieval from very long-term memory as the effect’s source. We suggest that when people have to search episodic memory, they consider their own calendar rhythms (such as a student’s academic schedule) and let the temporal structure of their personal context guide their search.     

Les variations dans le rappel onirique : synthèse et intégration des connaissances

The purpose of this review is to identify the main factors influencing dream recall frequency by focussing on the most recent developments and important contributions to the field. In summary, the capacity to produce dream experiences appears to depend on visuospatial skills while the capacity to recall dreams depends primarily on motivational factors as well as on variables affecting the accessibility of the dream experience. With respect to the various traits traditionally associated with dream recall (e.g. absorption, psychological boundaries, mental imagery, creativity), they likely reflect an estimation bias. Finally, the role of the dream experience's saliency on its recall remains uncertain.     

Running memory span: A comparison of behavioral capacity limits with those of an attractor neural network

We studied a computational model of short term memory capacity that performs a simulated running memory span task using Hebbian learning and rapid decay of connection strengths to keep recent items active for later recall. This model demonstrates recall performance similar to humans performing the same task, with a capacity limit of approximately three items and a prominent recency effect. The model also shows that this capacity depends on decay to release the model from accumulating interference. Model findings are compared with data from two behavioral experiments that used varying task demands to tax memory capacity limits. Following additional theoretical predictions from the computational model, behavioral data support that when task demands require attention to be spread too thin to keep items available for later recall, capacity limits suffer. These findings are important both for understanding the mechanisms underlying short term memory capacity, and also to memory researchers interested in the role of attention in capacity limitations.     

Parent–child talk and children's memory for stressful events

The relationship between parents' styles of talking about past events with their children and children's recall of stressful events was explored. In this investigation, 2‐ to 5‐year‐old children's recall of injuries requiring hospital emergency room treatment was assessed within a few days of the injury and again 2 years later, along with the way their parents reminisced with them about the event. Correlational analyses showed that age and parental reminiscing style were consistently related to child memory; regression analyses showed that although age was most important, parents who were more elaborative had children who recalled more during their initial interview about the harder‐to‐remember hospital event. Thus, an elaborative parental style may help children's recall of even highly salient and stressful events. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estimating the Capacity of Phonological Short-term Memory

Two methods of assessing the capacity of phonological short-term memory that minimize support from long-term memory were compared in a sample of 7- and 8-year-old children. The children were tested on immediate serial recall of words and nonwords, and on the serial recognition of sequences composed of words and nonwords. Serial recognition scores were found to be highly related to children's accuracy of recall of nonwords composed of low-probability phonotactic combinations, but were independent of the long-term memory contributions to recall estimated in the serial recall experiment. Children with high vocabulary knowledge performed significantly better than low vocabulary children on both the recall and recognition measures. It is argued that the convergence of the two techniques lends substantial validity to their use as assessments of phonological storage capacity relatively free of long-term memory influence, and that the crucial difference between children varying in vocabulary knowledge lies in this storage capacity rather than the differential availability and use of long-term knowledge.     

When Even Arbitrary Order Becomes Important: Developments in Reliable Temporal Sequencing of Arbitrarily Ordered Events

By late in the first year of life, children show temporally ordered recall of event sequences, the orders of which are constrained by enabling relations; they do not reliably recall arbitrarily ordered events. Using elicited imitation, in two experiments, we examined age-and experience-related changes in young children's recall of events, the orders of which are arbitrary. The changes were found to have implications for the efficacy of verbal reminding and to be related to developments in language. Specifically, on the basis of a single experience, 16-month-olds did not accurately recall arbitrarily ordered event sequences either immediately or after a two-week delay (Experiment 1); 22-month-olds recalled the events immediately, but not after the delay; by 28 months, children recalled the events even after the delay (Experiment 2A). This development was accompanied by changes in the ability to benefit from verbal reminders: 28-month-olds' recall was facilitated by provision of verbal reminders, whereas that of the younger children was not. Moreover, age-related changes in accurate reproduction of lengthy arbitrarily ordered event sequences were found to be related to developments in language (Experiment 2B). Critically, the limitations on 1-year-olds' performance that are overcome with age are not absolute: After three experiences, 16-month-olds accurately recalled the events after a two-week delay; their recall was facilitated by verbal reminders (Experiment 1). The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Children's and adults' recall of children's news stories in both print and audio‐visual presentation modalities

Research into adults' recall from different presentation modalities has demonstrated a recall advantage for print over television yet recent research indicates that children remember television news better than print news. An experiment was conducted by comparing children's and adults' recall of children's news stories presented in two different modalities, television and print, in order to establish whether children's recall advantage for television is dependent on their age or level of reading proficiency. A sample of 40 adults, 40 13‐year‐olds and 40 11‐year‐olds were presented with children's news stories, either in their original televised form or in a print version. All participants were aware they would be tested for recall. The results of the cued recall test indicated that children from both age groups learned more from the television news than from the print versions, regardless of age or reading proficiency and that adults remembered equal amounts from both presentation modalities. For the 11‐year‐olds the advantage of television was only found for information that had been accompanied by redundant pictures in the televised version, providing support for the dual‐coding hypothesis. For 13‐year‐olds the recall of television was not dependent on the addition of redundant visual information. Viewers and readers were found to invest the same amounts of mental effort, but reported levels of invested mental effort were found to be dependent on age and level of reading proficiency. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of testing on subsequent re‐encoding and long‐term forgetting of action‐relevant materials: On the influence of recall type

Testing one's memory of previously studied information reduces the rate of forgetting, compared to restudy. However, little is known about how this direct testing effect applies to action phrases (e.g., “wash the car”) – a learning material relevant to everyday memory. As action phrases consist of two different components, a verb (e.g., “wash”) and a noun (e.g., “car”), testing can either be implemented as noun‐cued recall of verbs or verb‐cued recall of nouns, which may differently affect later memory performance. In the present study, we investigated the effect of testing for these two recall types, using verbally encoded action phrases as learning materials. Results showed that repeated study–test practice, compared to repeated study–restudy practice, decreased the forgetting rate across 1 week to a similar degree for both noun‐cued and verb‐cued recall types. However, noun‐cued recall of verbs initiated more new subsequent learning during the first restudy, compared to verb‐cued recall of nouns. The study provides evidence that testing has benefits on both subsequent restudy and long‐term retention of action‐relevant materials, but that these benefits are differently expressed with testing via noun‐cued versus verb‐cued recall.     

Developments in long-term explicit memory late in the first year of life: behavioral and electrophysiological indices

Coincident with developments in the temporal-cortical explicit memory network, long-term recall abilities are newly emergent late in the first year of human life. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) in 9-month-olds as an index of the integrity of the neural substrate underlying a task thought to reflect explicit memory, namely, deferred imitation. ERP measures of recognition memory 1 week after unique laboratory experiences predicted whether and how much infants recalled of the experiences 1 month later. The findings further imply that memory storage and consolidation processes are a major source of variability in long-term recall memory late in the first year of life.     

Preschoolers have better long‐term memory for rhyming text than adults

The dominant view of children's memory is that it is slow to develop and is inferior to adults’. Here we pitted 4‐year‐old children against adults in a test of verbatim recall of verbal material. Parents read a novel rhyming verse (and an integrated word list) as their child's bedtime story on ten consecutive days. A group of young adults listened to the verse, matching the exposure of children. All participants subsequently performed a free‐recall of the verse, verbatim. (Parents and young adults knew they would be tested; children did not.) Four‐year‐olds significantly outperformed both their parents and the young adults. There were no significant differences in the ability to recall the gist of the verse, nor the integrated word list, allaying concerns about differences in engagement or motivation. Verbatim recall of verse is a skill amenable to practice, and children, we argue, by virtue of the prominence of verse in their culture and their reliance on oral transmission, have honed this skill to exceed adults’.     

Resilience facilitates positive emotionality and integration of negative memories in need satisfying memory networks: An experimental study

Resilience has been associated with the capacity to experience positive emotions in the midst of negative life events or following the recall of such events. Apparently, resilient people are able to self-generate those positive emotions because they tend to integrate and associate such past negative life events with other positive past events in memory networks. However, study designs on resilience have remained either cross-sectional or longitudinal. The causal effect of resilience on these outcomes remains to be shown as a third variable or unknown factor could be at play. In this study, we used a resilience intervention from a self-help clinical program to induce resilience and compared this condition against Jacobson type relaxation and neutral music background. Results showed that the resilience intervention increased positive emotionality following the recall of a negative self-defining memory and facilitated the integration of that memory within more positive and need satisfying memory networks.     

Long‐term memory effects on verbal short‐term memory: A replication study

The influence of lexico‐semantic language representations stored in long‐term memory (LTM) on short‐term memory (STM) performance has been studied extensively in adults. However, there are relatively few data on lexico‐semantic LTM effects on STM in children. On the other hand, the influence of phonological LTM effects on STM has been studied more extensively in children than in adults. In this study, we explored whether these different LTM effects on verbal STM could be replicated in both adults and children by administering immediate serial recall tasks (ISR) for high‐ and lowfrequency words, for high‐ and low‐imageability words, for words and non‐words, and for high and low phonotactic frequency non‐words to 6‐, 8‐, and 10‐year‐old children, to adolescents and to adults. Significant word frequency, lexicality and phonotactic frequency effects were observed in all age groups, as well as a word imageability effect which was, however, weaker than the other three effects. Our data suggest that LTM effects on STM are equivalent in both children and adults.     

<Emphasis Type="Bold">Keeping it together: Semantic coherence stabilizes phonological sequences in short-term memory</Emphasis>

Our ability to hold a sequence of speech sounds in mind, in the correct configuration, supports many aspects of communication, but the contribution of conceptual information to this basic phonological capacity remains controversial. Previous research has shown modest and inconsistent benefits of meaning on phonological stability in short-term memory, but these studies were based on sets of unrelated words. Using a novel design, we examined the immediate recall of sentence-like sequences with coherent meaning, alongside both standard word lists and mixed lists containing words and nonwords. We found, and replicated, substantial effects of coherent meaning on phoneme-level accuracy: The phonemes of both words and nonwords within conceptually coherent sequences were more likely to be produced together and in the correct order. Since nonwords do not exist as items in long-term memory, the semantic enhancement of phoneme-level recall for both item types cannot be explained by a lexically based item reconstruction process employed at the point of retrieval (“redintegration”). Instead, our data show, for naturalistic input, that when meaning emerges from the combination of words, the phonological traces that support language are reinforced by a semantic-binding process that has been largely overlooked by past short-term memory research.     

Hemispheric specialization in learning disabled readers' recall as a function of age and level of processing

This study was designed to test the inadequacy of two theoretical accounts of learning disabled readers' memory deficiencies. Two age groups of learning disabled and nondisabled readers were compared on diotic and dichotic listening recall tasks for semantically organized, phonemically organized, and categorically unrelated word lists presented in either the left, right, or both ears. Dependent measures were free recall, serial recall, recall organization, and hierarchical organization. As expected, recall increases were a function of age, group, and level of word processing. However, the results clearly demonstrated that age and group recall differences were an interaction of both mode of presentation and level of processing. The recall differences between reading groups were attributed to word knowledge (superordinate categorization) rather than recall organization within cerebral hemispheres or differences in hemispheric capacity, per se.