Memory integration in the classroom predicts future memory integration and academic performance

• In Event: Learning and memory in childhood

Abstract

Memory integration is the cognitive process of deriving new knowledge through the integration of individual facts and experiences (see Bauer, 2021; Bauer et al., 2020, for discussion). Without memory integration, experiences would remain separate, deprived of the connections that build a foundation on which to build future knowledge. Children engage in this process from at least 4 years of age, with age-related increases in performance (e.g., Bauer & Larkina, 2017). However, the research to date has been cross-sectional. In the proposed flash talk, we will present the results of the first longitudinal study of memory integration. Across two studies, we documented children’s memory integration in their classroom and examined the relation between memory integration and academic performance a year later.

In Study 1, we examined memory integration with a diverse sample of children in kindergarten and first grade (n = 94; 32% Black, 30% Hispanic/Latinx, 36% White, and 2% multiracial; 87% of children qualified for federally funded school lunch assistance). Data were collected in children’s classrooms using an illustrated story passage self-derivation through integration paradigm (e.g., Bauer & San Souci, 2010). A year later, we examined children’s memory integration performance and academic performance. There were significant main effects of grade (children performed at higher levels in first grade than in kindergarten) and time (Time 2 performance was higher than Time 1), but no interaction. These results indicate that children starting in kindergarten showed similar growth to those starting in first grade. The results are consistent with previous cross-sectional studies. The results also showed individual stability in memory integration from Year 1 to Year 2. Year 1 memory integration predicted 31% of the variance in Year 2 performance. Year 1 memory integration also significantly predicted Year 2 academic performance, explaining 34% of the variance in reading achievement and 24% in math achievement.

As in many developmental studies, the same measure cannot be used for younger and older children without limiting variability through ceiling or floor effects. Therefore, in Study 2, we examined the stability of memory integration across different memory integration paradigms. Data were collected in classrooms within the same diverse community as Study 1, but with 2nd and 3rd-grade children (n = 82). In Year 1, we used the illustrated story passage paradigm from Study 1. Then, in Year 2, we examined memory integration with a single-sentence self-derivation through integration paradigm that is more often used with older children and adults (e.g., Esposito & Bauer, 2018). This paradigm quadruples the trials and has less contextual support than the story passages.

The results showed stability in memory integration across measurement paradigms, with Year 1 memory integration predicting 50% of the variance in Year 2 performance. Year 1 memory integration also significantly predicted Year 2 academic performance, explaining 47% of the variance in reading achievement and 44% in math achievement.

The results will be discussed as part of the growing understanding of memory integration and the cognitive skills that predict academic performance. We will also address the implications for educational policy.

Authors

• Alena G Esposito, Clark University
  Presenting Author

• Patricia J Bauer, Emory University