What three-year-olds remember from their past: Long-term memory for persons, objects, and actions. (May 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hirte, Monika; Graf, Frauke; Kim, Ziyon; Knopf, Monika
• Is Part Of: International journal of behavioral development. Volume 41:Number 3(2017:May)
• Page Start: 371
• Page End: 379
• Publication Date: 2017-05
• Subjects: Three-year-olds -- deferred imitation -- long-term memory for persons -- long-term memory for objects -- long-term memory for actions; Developmental psychology -- Periodicals; Behaviorism (Psychology) -- Periodicals; 150
• DOI: 10.1177/0165025416634469
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0165-0254

Abstract

From birth on, infants show long-term recognition memory for persons. Furthermore, infants from six months onwards are able to store and retrieve demonstrated actions over long-term intervals in deferred imitation tasks. Thus, information about the model demonstrating the object-related actions is stored and recognition memory for the objects as well as memory for the actions is retrieved. To study the development of long-term retention for different memory contents systematically, the present study investigated the recognition of person- and object-related information as well as the retention of actions in two samples of three-year-olds who had participated in a deferred imitation task at either nine or 18 months of age. Results showed that three-year-olds who had participated at nine months of age retained actions in a re-enactment task; however, they neither indicated person- nor object-recognition in a picture-choice task (recognition task). Children who had participated at 18 months of age demonstrated person- and object-recognition but no re-enactment at three years of age. Findings are discussed against the background of memory development from a preverbal to a verbal age and in regard to the characteristics of the recognition vs re-enactment tasks and the stimuli used.