Developmental Improvements on the Forced-Choice Mnemonic Similarity Task in Childhood

• In Event: Poster Session 04
  In Poster Session: PS 04 Topic - Attention, Learning, Memory

Abstract

The Mnemonic Similarity Task (MST) has become a widely used assessment of memory discrimination. Developmental research using modified study-test versions of the MST suggests age-related improvements in mnemonic discrimination occur in childhood (Ngo, Newcombe & Olsen, 2017; Rollins & Cloude, 2018). Recently, Huffman and Stark (2017) employed a forced-choice version of the MST with young and older adults. During retrieval, a target (i.e., previously viewed item) was either paired with a novel, unrelated item (A-X), a corresponding lure (A-A′), or a semantically unrelated lure (i.e., non-corresponding lure (A-B′)). Performance was highest on the A-X test format, intermediate on the A-A′ test format, and the poorest on the A-B′ test format. Relative to younger adults, older adults demonstrated impairment on the A-A′ test format, but not the A-B′ or A- A′ test formats. The primary advantage of the forced-choice version of the MST is that it removes any differences in task performance that could be attributable to age-related differences in response criteria. The goal of the present research is to examine the development of mnemonic discrimination in childhood using the forced-choice MST. For our study, 4-year-old children, 6-year-old children, and young adults complete the forced-choice MST. Participants encode 100 pictorial stimuli from the Stark Laboratory database. During retrieval, participants complete 75 trials that are evenly divided between the A-X, A-A′, and A-B′ test formats. Data collection is ongoing, and we are currently reporting preliminary data from 15 young adults, 13 4-year-old children, and 15 6-year-old children. A 3 Test Format (A-X, A-A′, A-B′) x 3 Age Group (4-year-old children, 6-year-old children, young adults) mixed-model ANOVA was conducted on the proportion of correct responses to assess age-related differences mnemonic discrimination. Consistent with previous research (Huffman & Stark, 2017; Rollins, Khuu, & Lodi, 2019), individuals performed the best on the A-X test format, intermediate on the A-A′ test format, and the worst on the A-B′ test format, F(2, 80) = 77.79, p < .01. The main effect of age group was also significant, F(2, 40) = 39.12, p < .01. Young adults outperformed 6-year-old children, and 6-year-old children outperformed 4-year-old children. Further, test format interacted with age group to influence mnemonic discrimination, F(4, 80) = 3.311, p = .02. On the A-X test format, 6-year-old children and young adults performed comparably and better than 4-year-old children. On the A-A′ test format, young adults performed better than 4- and 6-year-old children, who performed comparably. On the A-B′ test format, all age groups were significantly different from one another; young adults outperformed 6-year-old children, and 6-year-old children outperformed 4-year-olds. These findings suggest age-related improvements in mnemonic discrimination during childhood and that the processes that underlie the changes may be partially dissociable from those that decline in aging. We are currently adapting the paradigm to collect additional data online.

Authors

• Leslie Rollins, Christopher Newport University
  Presenting Author

• Nafeesa Lodi, Christopher Newport University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kaylee Bennett, Christopher Newport University
  Non-Presenting Author