title: Property content guides children's memory for social learning episodes.
abstract: How do children's interpretations of the generality of learning episodes affect what they encode? In the present studies, we investigated the hypothesis that children encode distinct aspects of learning episodes containing generalizable and non-generalizable properties. Two studies with preschool (N=50) and young school-aged children (N=49) reveal that their encoding is contingent on the generalizability of the property they are learning. Children remembered generalizable properties (e.g., morphological or normative properties) more than non-generalizable properties (e.g., historical events or preferences). Conversely, they remembered category exemplars associated with non-generalizable properties more than category exemplars associated with generalizable properties. The findings highlight the utility of remembering distinct aspects of social learning episodes for children's future generalization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1202 West Johnson St., Madison, WI 53706, United States. Electronic address: aeriggs@wisc.edu.
authors.forename: Anne E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Riggs
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1025 West Johnson St., Madison, WI 53706, United States.
authors.forename: Charles W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Kalish
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1202 West Johnson St., Madison, WI 53706, United States.
authors.forename: Martha W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Alibali
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D005793:Generalization, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D012931:Social Environment
keywords: Development; Generalization; Memory cues; Social learning