@article{AslanBaeuml2012, author = {Aslan, Alp and B{\"a}uml, Karl-Heinz T.}, title = {Adaptive memory: Young children show enhanced retention of fitness-related information}, series = {Cognition}, volume = {122}, journal = {Cognition}, number = {1}, pages = {118 -- 122}, year = {2012}, abstract = {Evolutionary psychologists propose that human cognition evolved through natural selection to solve adaptive problems related to survival and reproduction, with its ultimate function being the enhancement of reproductive fitness. Following this proposal and the evolutionary-developmental view that ancestral selection pressures operated not only on reproductive adults, but also on pre-reproductive children, the present study examined whether young children show superior memory for information that is processed in terms of its survival value. In two experiments, we found such survival processing to enhance retention in 4- to 10-year-old children, relative to various control conditions that also required deep, meaningful processing but were not related to survival. These results suggest that, already in very young children, survival processing is a special and extraordinarily effective form of memory encoding. The results support the functional-evolutionary proposal that young children's memory is "tuned" to process and retain fitness-related information.}, language = {en} } @article{AslanStaudiglSameniehetal.2010, author = {Aslan, Alp and Staudigl, Tobias and Samenieh, Anuscheh and B{\"a}uml, Karl-Heinz T.}, title = {Directed forgetting in young children: Evidence for a production deficiency}, series = {Psychonomic Bulletin \& Review}, volume = {17}, journal = {Psychonomic Bulletin \& Review}, number = {6}, pages = {784 -- 789}, year = {2010}, abstract = {When people are cued to forget a previously studied list of items and to learn a new list instead, such cuing typically leads to forgetting of the first list and to memory enhancement of the second. In two experiments, we examined such listwise directed forgetting in children (and adults), using a forget cue that placed either high emphasis or low emphasis on the need to forget. In the low-emphasis condition, (adult-like) List 1 forgetting was present in fourth graders, but not in first graders (and kindergartners); in contrast, in the high-emphasis condition, (adult-like) List 1 forgetting was present from first grade on. Only fourth graders showed (adult-like) List 2 enhancement, regardless of task instruction. The finding that first graders showed List 1 forgetting only in the high-emphasis condition points to a production deficiency in first graders' directed forgetting, suggesting that the children are capable of intentional forgetting but fail to do so spontaneously. The finding that first graders showed List 1 forgetting without List 2 enhancement suggests that the two directed-forgetting effects are mediated by different processes with different developmental trajectories.}, language = {en} } @article{AslanBaeuml2011, author = {Aslan, Alp and B{\"a}uml, Karl-Heinz T.}, title = {Individual differences in working memory capacity predict retrieval-induced forgetting}, series = {Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition}, volume = {37}, journal = {Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition}, number = {1}, pages = {264 -- 269}, year = {2011}, abstract = {Selectively retrieving a subset of previously studied information enhances memory for the retrieved information but causes forgetting of related, nonretrieved information. Such retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) has often been attributed to inhibitory executive-control processes that supposedly suppress the nonretrieved items' memory representation. Here, we examined the role of working memory capacity (WMC) in young adults' RIF. WMC was assessed by means of the operation span task. Results revealed a positive relationship between WMC and RIF, with high-WMC individuals showing more RIF than low-WMC individuals. In contrast, individuals showed enhanced memory for retrieved information regardless of WMC. The results are consistent with previous individual-differences work that suggests a close link between WMC and inhibitory efficiency. In particular, the finding supports the inhibitory executive-control account of RIF.}, language = {en} } @article{AslanBaeuml2014, author = {Aslan, Alp and B{\"a}uml, Karl-Heinz T.}, title = {Later Maturation of the Beneficial Than the Detrimental Effect of Selective Memory Retrieval}, series = {Psychological Science}, volume = {25}, journal = {Psychological Science}, number = {4}, pages = {1025 -- 1030}, year = {2014}, abstract = {In adults, selective memory retrieval can both impair and improve recall of other memories. The study reported here examined whether children also show these two faces of memory retrieval. Employing a variant of the directed-forgetting task, we asked second, fourth, and seventh graders to study a list of target and nontarget words. After study, the participants received a cue to either forget or continue remembering the list. We subsequently asked some participants to recall the nontarget words before we tested their memory for the target words; for the remaining participants, we tested memory only for the target words. Prior retrieval of nontarget words impaired retrieval of to-be-remembered target words, regardless of children's age. In contrast, prior retrieval of nontarget words improved recall of to-be-forgotten target words in seventh graders, though not in fourth and second graders. These results suggest a developmental dissociation between the two faces of memory retrieval and indicate later maturation of the beneficial effect than of the detrimental effect of selective memory retrieval.}, language = {en} } @article{AslanBaeuml2013, author = {Aslan, Alp and B{\"a}uml, Karl-Heinz T.}, title = {Listwise directed forgetting is present in young-old adults, but is absent in old-old adults}, series = {Psychology and Aging}, volume = {28}, journal = {Psychology and Aging}, number = {1}, pages = {213 -- 218}, year = {2013}, abstract = {People can exert control over the contents of their memory and can intentionally forget information when cued to do so. The present study examined such intentional forgetting in older adults using the listwise directed forgetting (DF) task. We replicated prior work by finding intact forgetting in young-old adults (up to 75 years). Extending the prior work, we additionally found forgetting to decline gradually with individuals' age and to be inefficient in old-old adults (above 75 years). The results indicate that listwise DF is a late-declining capability, suggesting a deficit in very old adults' episodic memory control.}, language = {en} } @article{AslanSameniehStaudigletal.2010, author = {Aslan, Alp and Samenieh, Anuscheh and Staudigl, Tobias and B{\"a}uml, Karl-Heinz T.}, title = {Memorial Consequences of Environmental Context Change in Children and Adults}, series = {Experimental Psychology}, volume = {57}, journal = {Experimental Psychology}, number = {6}, pages = {455 -- 461}, year = {2010}, abstract = {Changing environmental context during encoding can influence episodic memory. This study examined the memorial consequences of environmental context change in children. Kindergartners, first and fourth graders, and young adults studied two lists of items, either in the same room (no context change) or in two different rooms (context change), and subsequently were tested on the two lists in the room in which the second list was encoded. As expected, in adults, the context change impaired recall of the first list and improved recall of the second. Whereas fourth graders showed the same pattern of results as adults, in both kindergartners and first graders no memorial effects of the context change arose. The results indicate that the two effects of environmental context change develop contemporaneously over middle childhood and reach maturity at the end of the elementary school days. The findings are discussed in light of both retrieval-based and encoding-based accounts of context-dependent memory.}, language = {en} } @article{AslanBaeuml2012, author = {Aslan, Alp and B{\"a}uml, Karl-Heinz T.}, title = {Retrieval-induced forgetting in old and very old age}, series = {Psychology and Aging}, volume = {27}, journal = {Psychology and Aging}, number = {4}, pages = {1027 -- 1032}, year = {2012}, abstract = {Selectively retrieving a subset of previously studied information can cause forgetting of related, nonretrieved information. Such retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) has typically been attributed to inhibitory control processes. Examining participants with a mean age of about 70 years, previous work reported intact RIF in older adults, suggesting efficient inhibition in older adults' episodic memory. We replicated the prior work by finding reliable RIF in young-old participants (60-75 years), but additionally found RIF to decline with increasing age and to be inefficient in old-old participants (above 75 years). The results support the proposal of an inhibitory deficit in (very) old age.}, language = {en} } @article{AslanBaeuml2010, author = {Aslan, Alp and B{\"a}uml, Karl-Heinz T.}, title = {Retrieval-induced forgetting in young children}, series = {Psychonomic Bulletin \& Review}, volume = {17}, journal = {Psychonomic Bulletin \& Review}, number = {5}, pages = {704 -- 709}, year = {2010}, abstract = {A prominent theory of cognitive development attributes the poor performance that children show in many cognitive tasks to a general lack of inhibitory control. We tested this theory by examining children's inhibitory capabilities in retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF), a memory task in which selective retrieval of previously studied material causes forgetting of related, nonretrieved material. Such forgetting is often attributed to inhibitory control processes, which supposedly suppress the nonretrieved items' memory representation. We examined RIF in kindergartners, second graders, and adults, using both recall and recognition testing. Although all three age groups showed significant RIF in recall, only adults and second graders, but not kindergartners, showed RIF in recognition. Because inhibition-based RIF should be present in recall and recognition, these findings indicate that in adults and second graders, but not in kindergartners, RIF is mediated by inhibition. The results support the view of inefficient inhibitory processes in young children's cognition.}, language = {en} } @article{AslanBaeuml2016, author = {Aslan, Alp and B{\"a}uml, Karl-Heinz T.}, title = {Testing enhances subsequent learning in older but not in younger elementary school children}, series = {Developmental Science}, volume = {19}, journal = {Developmental Science}, number = {6}, pages = {992 -- 998}, year = {2016}, abstract = {In adults, testing can enhance subsequent learning by reducing interference from the tested information. Here, we examined this forward effect of testing in children. Younger and older elementary school children and adult controls studied four lists of items in anticipation of a final cumulative recall test. Following presentation of each of the first three lists, participants were immediately tested on the respective list, or the list was re-presented for additional study. Results revealed that, compared to additional study, immediate testing of Lists 1-3 enhanced memory for the subsequently studied List 4 in adults and older elementary school children, but not in younger elementary school children. The findings indicate that the forward effect of testing is a relatively late-maturing phenomenon that develops over middle childhood and is still inefficient in the early elementary school years. Together with the results of other recent studies, these findings point to a more general problem in young children in combating interference.}, language = {en} } @article{AslanSchlichtingJohnetal.2015, author = {Aslan, Alp and Schlichting, Andreas and John, Thomas and B{\"a}uml, Karl-Heinz T.}, title = {The Two Faces of Selective Memory Retrieval: Earlier Decline of the Beneficial Than the Detrimental Effect With Older Age}, series = {Psychology and Aging}, volume = {30}, journal = {Psychology and Aging}, number = {4}, pages = {824 -- 834}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Recent work with young adults has shown that, depending on study context access, selective memory retrieval can both impair and improve recall of other memories (B{\"a}uml \& Samenieh, 2010). Here, we investigated the 2 opposing effects of selective retrieval in older age. In Experiment 1, we examined 64 younger (20-35 years) and 64 older participants (above 60 years), and manipulated study context access using list-method directed forgetting. Whereas both age groups showed a detrimental effect of selective retrieval on to-be-remembered items, only younger but not older adults showed a beneficial effect on to-be-forgotten items. In Experiment 2, we examined 112 participants from a relatively wide age range (40-85 years), and manipulated study context access by varying the retention interval between study and test. Overall, a detrimental effect of selective retrieval arose when the retention interval was relatively short, but a beneficial effect when the retention interval was prolonged. Critically, the size of the beneficial but not the detrimental effect of retrieval decreased with age and this age-related decline was mediated by individuals' working memory capacity, as measured by the complex operation span task. Together, the results suggest an age-related dissociation in retrieval dynamics, indicating an earlier decline of the beneficial than the detrimental effect of selective retrieval with older age. (APA PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)}, language = {en} }