3-143 - The interface of memory and perception in development: Boundary extension in infants, preschoolers, and atypical development

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Boundary extension (BE) is a memory error in which observers erroneously remember seeing the world beyond the boundaries of a view (Intraub, 2010). Research suggests it reflects spatial anticipation of the surrounding world. In line with this characterization, BE has been associated with activity in the hippocampus (Chadwick, Mullally & Maguire, 2012). Developmental research on boundary extension holds great promise. There is evidence of BE in 3-7 month old infants (Quinn & Intraub, 2007). Paper 1 explores BE in infants further by examining the potential relation of locomotion to BE in 9-month-old infants. Does navigation and perhaps concurrent changes in hippocampal development affect this anticipatory spatial error? Paper 2 addresses methodological challenges in studies of boundary extension in 4-5 year old children. Drawing tasks and a new two-alternative forced-choice recognition test were used to test boundary extension, while ruling out response bias and manipulating scene complexity. Paper 3 draws on these methods to test boundary extension in children and young adults (ages 11-25 years) with a developmental memory disorder (Down syndrome) and to determine if BE is correlated with hippocampal-dependent neuropsychological tests, including spatial paired associates or source memory in typically developing children, age 4-7 years. Results suggest BE is present in young children and children with DS, but that individual differences in BE are not related to neuropsychological tasks tapping hippocampal function at this age. These findings advance our understanding of BE during development and raise new questions for understanding scene representation in young children.

Sub Unit

• Cognitive Processes

Chairs

• Helene Intraub, University of Delaware

• Jamie Ogline Edgin, University of Arizona

Individual Presentations

• Anticipatory scene representation in young children’s drawings and recognition memory - Presenting Author: Helene Intraub, University of Delaware; Erica Kreindel, University of Delaware

• Do memory and perception interact in development?: Boundary extension in a developmental memory disorder - Presenting Author: Jamie Ogline Edgin, University of Arizona; Goffredina Spano, University of Arizona; Malissa Tsang, University of Arizona

• Locomotion as a correlate of boundary extension in 9 month old infants - Presenting Author: Sinead Mullally, Newcastle University