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Later Maturation of the Beneficial Than the Detrimental Effect of Selective Memory Retrieval

  • 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.

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Metadaten
Author:Alp AslanORCiD, Karl-Heinz T. Bäuml
URL:https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613519270
Parent Title (English):Psychological Science
Document Type:Article (peer reviewed)
Language:English
Publication Year:2014
Tag:cognitive development; episodic memory
Volume:25
Issue:4
First Page:1025
Last Page:1030
Peer reviewed:Ja