Age differences in generalization, memory specificity, and their overnight fate in childhood
Memory enables generalization to new situations, and memory specificity that preserves individual episodes. This study investigated generalization, memory specificity, and their overnight fate in 141 4‐ to 8‐year‐olds (computerized memory game; 71 females, tested 2020–2021 in Germany). The results r...
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Published in | Child development Vol. 95; no. 4; pp. e270 - e286 |
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Main Authors | , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
01.07.2024
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
ISSN | 0009-3920 1467-8624 1467-8624 |
DOI | 10.1111/cdev.14089 |
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Summary: | Memory enables generalization to new situations, and memory specificity that preserves individual episodes. This study investigated generalization, memory specificity, and their overnight fate in 141 4‐ to 8‐year‐olds (computerized memory game; 71 females, tested 2020–2021 in Germany). The results replicated age effects in generalization and memory specificity, and a contingency of generalization on object conceptual properties and interobject semantic proximity. Age effects were stronger in generalization than in memory specificity, and generalization was more closely linked to the explicit regularity knowledge in older than in younger children. After an overnight delay, older children retained more generalized and specific memories and showed greater gains but only in generalization. These findings reveal distinct age differences in generalization and memory specificity across childhood. |
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Bibliography: | Elisa S. Buchberger and Ann‐Kathrin Joechner contributed equally to this work. ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 14 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0009-3920 1467-8624 1467-8624 |
DOI: | 10.1111/cdev.14089 |