Memory Binding in Early Childhood: Evidence for a Retrieval Deficit

Authors

Marianne E. Lloyd, Seton Hall University
Ayzit O. Doydum, Emory University
Nora S. Newcombe, Temple University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2009

Journal Title

Child Development

Volume

80

Number

5

Pages

1321-1328

Publisher

Society for Research in Child Development

Abstract

Previous research has suggested that performance for items requiring memory-binding processes improves between ages 4 and 6 (J. Sluzenski, N. Newcombe, & S. L. Kovacs, 2006). The present study suggests that much of this improvement is due to retrieval, as opposed to encoding, deficits for 4-year-olds. Four- and 6-year-old children (N = 48 per age) were given objects, backgrounds, and object + background combinations to remember. Younger children performed equivalently to 6-year-olds during a working memory task for all types of memory questions but were impaired during a long-term memory task for the object + background combinations. Furthermore, this deficit was completely due to differences in false alarm rates, suggesting that separate analyses of hits and false alarms may be preferable to corrected recognition scores when studying memory development.

Recommended Citation

Marianne E. Lloyd, Ayzit O. Doydum, and Nora S. Newcombe. "Memory Binding in Early Childhood: Evidence for a Retrieval Deficit" Child Development 80.5 (2009): 1321-1328.