Memory in Childhood

Question 1

Are babies’ memories lost?

Answer 1

No, they’re continually updated as learning progresses.

Question 2

What factors and conditions impact recall of children (they’re the same as older children and adults)?

Answer 2

(1) Nature of events
(2) Number of times events are experienced
(3) Availability of cues or reminders

Question 3

Infants tested at 2, 4, 6 mos can recall ______ ?
Children ages 1-3 y.o. are capable of ______ ?
By 2 y.o., babies recall ______ ?

Answer 3

(1) Details about hidden objects, location, & size
(2) Immediate and long-term recall of specific life events
(3) Events that occurred several months earlier

Question 4

When adults are asked about their earliest memories, most cannot recall anything that occurred prior to age ____ and this is called __________.

Answer 4

3; infantile amnesia

Question 5

What is the theory behind infantile amnesia?

Answer 5

It is the result of lack of schematic organization of experience, a different way of encoding in early childhood, and more recently, importance of language development.

Question 6

How are memories made initially?

Answer 6

As result of child talking about them with someone else and as ability to reason develops, memory securing conversations are carried out within the child him/herself.

Question 7

Describe the rate of memory in children

Answer 7

Memory increases at steady rate during preschool years w/substantial gains at about age 7 at transition from early to middle childhood

Question 8

To what is increase in memory at age 7 attributed?

Answer 8

(1) Increased short-term memory capacity
(2) Consistent use of rehearsal and other memory strategies
(3) Increased knowledge of things that are to be remembered
(4) Development of metamemory or knowledge about one’s own memory processes