Poster #22 - Developmental origins of ordered memory recall strategies

• In Event: Poster Session 14

Abstract

When presented with a sequence of memory targets, recall is typically more accurate for the first encountered stimulus (primacy effect) and the last encountered stimulus (recency effect; Murdock, 1962). In a previous study, we presented 6- to 9-year-old children with a task in which they could search for multiple memory targets in any order they wished. Unexpectedly, younger children were significantly more likely to search first for the last target hidden (possibly exploiting the recency effect), whereas older children were significantly more likely to search first for the first target hidden (possibly exploiting the primacy effect). We also found that, when children had the option to externally mark some but not all target locations, older children were significantly more likely to search for unmarked targets before marked targets (thus increasing their chances of finding the unmarked targets before they forgot the locations).

The current study will present a simpler multiple-target memory task to younger children (3- to 5-year-olds; N = 72) to examine the developmental origins of these ordered memory recall tendencies. The task involves the recall of targets (plastic coins) to be hidden under a linear array of six identical cups (see Figure 1). Across four phases, participants will watch as one (Phase 1) or three (Phases 2, 3 and 4) coins are hidden under the cups for a total of six trials per phase. Participants will initially complete the game without any external markers (Phases 1 and 2), before being introduced to ‘tokens’ that mark the hiding locations of coins. In Phase 3, the experimenter will consistently mark all three targets with tokens, demonstrating how tokens can be used to offload memory demands. In Phase 4, by contrast, the experimenter will only mark one of three targets in a pre-determined and counterbalanced order.

This study is primarily exploratory, as previous research has not directly investigated children’s ordered memory recall tendencies. In Phase 2, we will explore whether accuracy on the first search (for one of three targets) is significantly worse than accuracy on the only search in Phase 1, potentially indicating working memory interference effects in Phase 2. In Phases 2 and 4, we will explore whether children show significant evidence of searching in line with primacy and recency effects. We will also explore whether children tend to search for unmarked targets before the marked target in Phase 4, thus reducing the time and effort they must spend remembering the location of the unmarked targets.

Our primary hypothesis is that, in Phase 4, older children will be more likely than younger children to search for unmarked targets before the marked target (see Figure 2B). We will also examine if younger and older children’s tendency to search in this manner differs from an a priori chance level of 66.7% (given 2/3 targets are unmarked). One possibility is that children will typically perform below the a priori chance level, such that they will be biased towards searching for the marked targets first.

Authors

• Lily Dicken, University of Queensland
  Presenting Author

• Thomas Suddendorf, University of Queensland

• Kristy Louise Armitage, University of Queensland

• Jonathan Redshaw, University of Queensland