TY - JOUR A1 - Schlichting, Andreas A1 - Aslan, Alp A1 - Holterman, Christoph A1 - Bäuml, Karl-Heinz T. T1 - Working memory capacity predicts the beneficial effect of selective memory retrieval JF - Memory N2 - Selective retrieval of some studied items can both impair and improve recall of the other items. This study examined the role of working memory capacity (WMC) for the two effects of memory retrieval. Participants studied an item list consisting of predefined target and nontarget items. After study of the list, half of the participants performed an imagination task supposed to induce a change in mental context, whereas the other half performed a counting task which does not induce such context change. Following presentation of a second list, memory for the original list's target items was tested, either with or without preceding retrieval of the list's nontarget items. Consistent with previous work, preceding nontarget retrieval impaired target recall in the absence of the context change, but improved target recall in its presence. In particular, there was a positive relationship between WMC and the beneficial, but not the detrimental effect of memory retrieval. On the basis of the view that the beneficial effect of memory retrieval reflects context-reactivation processes, the results indicate that individuals with higher WMC are better able to capitalise on retrieval-induced context reactivation than individuals with lower WMC. KW - Blocking KW - Context reactivation KW - Inhibition KW - Retrieval KW - Working memory capacity Y1 - 2021 UR - https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2014.927506 VL - 23 IS - 5 SP - 786 EP - 794 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aslan, Alp A1 - Zellner, Martina A1 - Bäuml, Karl-Heinz T. T1 - Working memory capacity predicts listwise directed forgetting in adults and children JF - Memory N2 - In listwise directed forgetting, participants are cued to forget previously studied material and to learn new material instead. Such cueing typically leads to forgetting of the first set of material and to memory enhancement of the second. The present study examined the role of working memory capacity in adults' and children's listwise directed forgetting. Working memory capacity was assessed with complex span tasks. In Experiment 1 working memory capacity predicted young adults' directed-forgetting performance, demonstrating a positive relationship between working memory capacity and each of the two directed-forgetting effects. In Experiment 2 we replicated the finding with a sample of first and a sample of fourth-grade children, and additionally showed that working memory capacity can account for age-related increases in directed-forgetting efficiency between the two age groups. Following the view that directed forgetting is mediated by inhibition of the first encoded list, the results support the proposal of a close link between working memory capacity and inhibitory function. KW - Episodic memory KW - Directed forgetting KW - Individual differences KW - Working memory capacity KW - Inhibition KW - Cognitive development Y1 - 2021 UR - https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211003742698 VL - 18 IS - 4 SP - 442 EP - 450 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aslan, Alp A1 - Schlichting, Andreas A1 - John, Thomas A1 - Bäuml, Karl-Heinz T. T1 - The Two Faces of Selective Memory Retrieval: Earlier Decline of the Beneficial Than the Detrimental Effect With Older Age JF - Psychology and Aging N2 - 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 (Bäuml & 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) KW - cognitive aging KW - episodic memory KW - retrieval, context reactivation KW - inhibition Y1 - 2021 UR - https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039874 VL - 30 IS - 4 SP - 824 EP - 834 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aslan, Alp A1 - Bäuml, Karl-Heinz T. T1 - Testing enhances subsequent learning in older but not in younger elementary school children JF - Developmental Science N2 - 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. KW - elementary school children Y1 - 2021 UR - https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12340 VL - 19 IS - 6 SP - 992 EP - 998 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aslan, Alp A1 - Bäuml, Karl-Heinz T. T1 - Retrieval-induced forgetting in young children JF - Psychonomic Bulletin & Review N2 - 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. KW - False Alarm Rate KW - Retrieval Practice KW - Item Recognition KW - Unpracticed Item KW - Final Recall Test Y1 - 2021 UR - https://doi.org/10.3758/PBR.17.5.704 VL - 17 IS - 5 SP - 704 EP - 709 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aslan, Alp A1 - Bäuml, Karl-Heinz T. T1 - Retrieval-induced forgetting in old and very old age JF - Psychology and Aging N2 - 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. KW - retrieval-induced forgetting Y1 - 2021 UR - https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028379 VL - 27 IS - 4 SP - 1027 EP - 1032 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aslan, Alp A1 - Samenieh, Anuscheh A1 - Staudigl, Tobias A1 - Bäuml, Karl-Heinz T. T1 - Memorial Consequences of Environmental Context Change in Children and Adults JF - Experimental Psychology N2 - 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. KW - episodic memory KW - context-dependent memory KW - environmental context change KW - memory development KW - cognitive development Y1 - 2021 UR - https://doi.org/10.1027/1618-3169/a000056 VL - 57 IS - 6 SP - 455 EP - 461 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aslan, Alp A1 - Bäuml, Karl-Heinz T. T1 - Listwise directed forgetting is present in young-old adults, but is absent in old-old adults JF - Psychology and Aging N2 - 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. KW - intentional forgetting Y1 - 2021 UR - https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031295 VL - 28 IS - 1 SP - 213 EP - 218 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aslan, Alp A1 - Bäuml, Karl-Heinz T. T1 - Later Maturation of the Beneficial Than the Detrimental Effect of Selective Memory Retrieval JF - Psychological Science N2 - 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. KW - cognitive development KW - episodic memory Y1 - 2021 UR - https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613519270 VL - 25 IS - 4 SP - 1025 EP - 1030 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Aslan, Alp A1 - Bäuml, Karl-Heinz T. T1 - Individual differences in working memory capacity predict retrieval-induced forgetting JF - Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition N2 - 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. KW - retrieval-induced forgetting Y1 - 2021 UR - https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021324 VL - 37 IS - 1 SP - 264 EP - 269 ER -