The development of declarative memory in human infants: age-related changes in deferred imitation.
In 2 experiments, deferred imitation procedures were used to trace age-related changes in declarative memory by human infants over the first 2 years of life. An adult modeled 3 actions with an object, and infants' ability to reproduce those actions was assessed 24 hr later. Some infants were tested with a new object or in a new context relative to the original demonstration. Changes in the context disrupted the performance of 6-month-olds but had no effect on the performance of 12- and 18-month-olds. Changes in the object disrupted the performance of 6- and 12-month-olds but had no effect on the performance of 18-month-olds. This age-related increase in representational flexibility may account for the decline of childhood amnesia during the 3rd year of life.
Hayne
H
H
Psychology Department, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. Hayne@psy.otago.ac.nz
Boniface
J
J
Barr
R
R
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003210:Concept Formation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D011340:Problem Solving; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012016:Reference Values; D012153:Retention, Psychology