Effects of experience and reminding on long-term recall in infancy: remembering not to forget.
We examined whether some of the factors that facilitate recall in older children also extend to 1- to 2-years-olds. Using elicited imitation we assessed the efficacy of verbal (Experiment 1), and verbal plus nonverbal (Experiment 2) reminding on 15-month-olds' recall after a 1-week delay. Reminding ameliorated forgetting: Performance at delayed and immediate recall was equivalent. The addition of nonverbal information did not enhance recall above verbal information alone. In Experiment 3 we investigated the influence of verbal reminding, repeated experience, and mode of experience (i.e., imitate vs watch only) on recall after 1 month. The effects of reminding depended on event type: Reminding facilitated recall of events with enabling relations, but not of events lacking them. Repeated experience and the opportunity to imitate facilitated recall; children who watched events only once nevertheless recalled them. Results suggest that the strength of organization of an event representation, rather than retention interval, is a major determinant of remembering during the second year of life.
Bauer
P J
PJ
Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455-0345.
Hertsgaard
L A
LA
Wewerka
S S
SS
D001288:Attention; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D011939:Mental Recall; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D014706:Verbal Learning