title: Visual recognition memory enhancement in children through differential outcomes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The use of differential outcomes has been shown to enhance discriminative learning and face recognition in children and adults. In this study, we further investigated whether the differential outcome procedure (DOP) would also be effective in improving recognition memory for a wide range of stimuli with varying visual complexity (familiar objects, abstract stimuli, and complex scenes) in 5- and 7-year-old children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants viewed a sample stimulus and, after a short (5s) or a long (15s) delay, they had to identify the previously seen stimulus among four choice alternatives. In the differential outcomes condition, each sample stimulus was paired with a specific outcome; whereas in the non-differential conditions outcomes were administered randomly. In Experiment 2, we replicated Experiment 1 but in addition we asked participants to perform an articulatory suppression task to prevent verbal rehearsal.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children showed a greater overall visual delayed recognition when differential outcomes were arranged in both experiments. The type of stimulus being used modulated this effect; a beneficial effect of the differential outcomes training was evident with abstract objects in Experiment 1 and with both, abstract objects and scenes in Experiment 2.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de Almería, Spain.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Esteban
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, The University of Sheffield International Faculty, City College, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Ana B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Vivas
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de Almería, Spain. Electronic address: mafernan@ual.es.
authors.forename: Angeles F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Estévez
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: 5- and 7-year-old children; Differential outcomes procedure; Memory training; Visual recognition memory