Transcript Habituation in Infancy

Modules 6-1 & 6-3
Information Processing
Information Processing
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Not a single, unified theory
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Investigates:
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Attention
Memory
Thinking
Metacognition: Knowledge of when and
how to use strategies to think, remember,
and problem-solve.
Principles of Change
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Automaticity
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No conscious effort required
Strategy Construction
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Self-modification
Metacognition
Gradual change
Speed of Mental Processing
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Rises dramatically across childhood
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Young adult comparison study
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10 year olds were 1.8 times slower
12 year olds were 1.5 times slower
15 year olds were the same
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Declines from the 40’s
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Experience or biological maturation?
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myelination
Speed of Mental Processing
Does processing speed matter?
 May help you think better
 May help you learn faster
 May be compensated for by experience
 ***correlational study showed that lower
IQ scores were associated with an earlier
death
Attention
Habituation in Infancy
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Long-lookers vs. short-lookers
Infants with brain damage do not habituate
well
Attention in Childhood
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Control improves with age
10-month olds more distractible than 26
month olds
Preschoolers may watch TV for half an hour
at a time
Anderson and others (1985) visual attention
drastically improves in the preschool years
Selective Attention
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Older & more socially advantaged children are
more focused & less distractible
Ruff & Hobart (1996) Ability to pay attention
in preschool is related to achievement,
relationship & social skills
Related to school readiness
Peer rejection and aggressive behavior are
related to lack of ability to control attention
Attention to Salience vs.
Relevance
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Preschoolers pay attention to whatever
stands out
After age 6 or 7, there is more cognitive
control
Older children shift attention better
Older adults may begin to lose the ability to
shift attention (driving)
Memory
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Constructed (& Reconstructed)
Guided by schemas – existing
knowledge & understanding
Misinformation Effect (can be
distorted)/source amnesia
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Bugs Bunny study
Types of Memory
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Implicit
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Procedural
emotional, conditioned, reflexive
Explicit – (declarative)
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episodic
semantic
Development of Memory
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Rovee-Collier
Babies have detailed memory at 2 ½ months
 Ties a baby’s ankle to a mobile. They kick
and move the mobile. What do they do if
placed in the crib weeks later?
 They kick, but only if the mobile is the same.
 Infants 2-6 months can carry memory to 1 ½
- 2 years.
Is it only implicit memory?
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Memory in Infancy
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Other researchers Babies do not show explicit memory until
the second half of the first year of life.
Explicit (conscious) memory improves
substantially during the second year.
Infantile Amnesia
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No permanent long-term memory
before age 3, little in pre-school
(infantile amnesia).
May have to do with lack of enough
development in the hippocampus
and/or pre-frontal lobes
Children’s Short-Term Memory
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Memory span in digits
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2 digits
5 digits
6 ½ digits
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2-3 year olds
7 year olds
13 year olds
(Related to speed of repetition)
Children’s Long-term Memory Eyewitnesses
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There are age differences in susceptibility to
suggestion.
There are also individual differences (low selfconcept, low support from parents).
Interview techniques can produce substantial
distortions.
Long-term Memory Strategies
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Rehearsing
Organizing
Elaboration (Thinking about it)
Personal relevance
Images
Children’s Long-term Memory
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Increase strategy use with age
Fuzzy-trace theory
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Using gist vs. verbatim
Affected by Knowledge base
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Schema elaboration
Chase & Chi
Metamemory (Use of Strategies)
Improves During Childhood
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Ages 5-6 know that
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Familiar items are easier to remember
Short lists are easier than long ones
Recognition is easier than recall
Forgetting becomes more likely over time
Metamemory (Use of Strategies)
Improves During Childhood
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At Ages 5-6, do not know that
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related items are easier to remember
Gist is easier than verbatim
Inflated opinion of their memory
abilities
Adult Memory
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Working memory
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Peak at 45? Decline at 57?
Processing speed?
Facts & Findings
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Young adults have better episodic
memory than older ones
Among older adults, older memories are
less accurate than more recent ones
Older adults take longer to retrieve
semantic memory
Facts & Findings
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Implicit memory is less likely to be
affected by aging
Source amnesia gets worse (source
memory declines) in older adulthood
Prospective memory (remembering to do
something)
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Time-based poorer than event-based
Adult Memory:
Summary & Review
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Declines in
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Processing speed
Working memory
Episodic memory
Negative Influences on
Memory in Older Adulthood
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Physical declines
Anxiety & depression
Beliefs about losing memory important
Attitudes & feelings important (e.g., low
self-efficacy)
Good health will reduce, but not
eliminate declines