Name: examining recall memory in infancy and early childhood using the elicited imitation paradigm
Uploaded: 2016-04-28T13:00:00.000+00:00
Duration: 6 min 35 s
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm at JoVE.com

The author thanks members of the UCI Memory and Development Lab for their comments on a draft of this manuscript as well as their assistance with manuscript preparation.

The administration instructions provided here are similar to those that have been approved previously by the Institutional Review Board at the University of California, Irvine.
1. Equipment
<ol>
	<li>Test participants in a child-safe room that has an adult-sized table with three chairs (one for the researcher, one for the parent, and one for the child). Alternatively, test children in their homes at their own table or on a portable table provided by the researchers.</li>
	<li>Use a video camera placed on a tripod to record the child (audio and video) as he/she participates in the study. Place the video camera so that the recording clearly shows the participant and the object of his/her gaze as well as each of the completed target actions.</li>
</ol>
2. Testing Procedures
<ol>
	<li>Warm-up
	<ol>
		<li>Seat the child directly across from the researcher at the adult-sized table. Sit children younger than 13 months old on the lap of a parent. Sit older children on a booster seat that is attached to an adult-sized chair unless they request to sit on the parent&#39;s lap. If the child is seated in a booster seat, sit the parent at the table next to the child.</li>
		<li>Engage the child in play with age-appropriate toys unrelated to the study so as to establish comfort with the researcher and the testing environment. Next, show children younger than 13 months old how to put a shape into the top or the side of a commercially-available shape sorter toy while narrating the action by saying, &#34;Put it in.&#34;26,27,43-45 Give older children a plastic ball and Slinky. Roll the ball across the table while saying &#34;Roll it&#34; and then put the ball inside of the Slinky while saying, &#34;Put it in.&#34;</li>
		<li>Conduct each demonstration twice in succession before allowing the child the opportunity to imitate.</li>
		<li>Proceed once the child has interacted and shared toys with the researcher.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Baseline
	<ol>
		<li>Put the sequence materials for the first event on the table; ensure that the same standardized order is used across participants.</li>
		<li>Push the props towards the child while providing a general verbal prompt to encourage interaction with the sequence materials, such as, &#34;What can you do with this stuff?&#34;.</li>
		<li>Provide positive reinforcement as the child interacts with the props, both when he/she performs the target actions and when he/she is engaging with the sequence materials more generally. For example, say, &#34;Good job!&#34; or &#34;That&#39;s a neat idea!&#34; as the child explores the props. If the child does not interact with the first sequence at baseline, repeat Section 2.1.2.</li>
		<li>If the child appears distracted, call his/her name or tap on the sequence materials in an attempt to redirect his/her attention to the task.28 Ensure that the props are not tapped in a manner that is suggestive of target actions or the order of their completion. Avoid use of phrases that suggest temporal order information, such as &#34;What do you do next?&#34; or &#34;Then what?&#34;.</li>
		<li>Allow children younger than 13 months between 1&#189; and 2 minutes to interact with the props.26,27,43-45 Terminate the baseline period for older children when the child engages in repetitive or off-task behaviors such as mouthing the props, repeatedly banging them on the table, or dropping them on the floor.28,31,33,42 Model each sequence immediately after the baseline phase of testing for that sequence is terminated.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Sequence Modeling
	<ol>
		<li>Bring the sequence materials back to the researcher&#39;s side of the table.</li>
		<li>Return the sequence materials to their original, standardized positions in the researcher&#39;s lap (so the child cannot see what the researcher is doing) and put them back on the table.</li>
		<li>Make eye contact with the child. Provide him/her with the name of the sequence using infant-directed speech. For example, for the event Make a Shaker, say, &#34;I can use this stuff to Make a Shaker. Watch how I Make a Shaker with this stuff.&#34;</li>
		<li>Perform each target action with narration. For the event Make a Shaker, put the block into one of the two nesting cups while saying, &#34;Put in the block.&#34; Cover one of the nesting cups with the other while saying, &#34;Cover it up.&#34; Shake the assembled apparatus while saying, &#34;Shake it!&#34;.</li>
		<li>Put all of the props back on the table, make eye contact with the child, and say, &#34;That&#39;s how I Make a Shaker with this stuff!&#34;.</li>
		<li>Ensure that the child watches the researcher complete each of the demonstrated actions. If the child appears distracted, see Section 2.2.4.</li>
		<li>Return the sequence materials to their original positions as indicated in Section 2.3.2.</li>
		<li>Re-model the actions required to complete event sequence one more time (2 demonstrations total) as indicated in Sections 2.3.3, 2.3.4, 2.3.5, and 2.3.6.</li>
		<li>If immediate imitation is not permitted, repeat Sections 2.2, 2.3, and 2.4 for each of the remaining event sequences in turn.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Immediate Imitation
	<ol>
		<li>Bring the sequence materials back to the researcher&#39;s side of the table.</li>
		<li>Return the sequence materials to their original, standardized positions (so the child cannot see what the researcher is doing) and put them back on the table.</li>
		<li>Push the props towards the child while providing the name of the event sequence as a retrieval cue. For example, when testing immediate imitation for Make a Shaker, say, &#34;You can use this stuff to Make a Shaker. How do you Make a Shaker just like I did?&#34;.</li>
		<li>Allow children younger than 13 months old between 1&#189; and 2 minutes to interact with the props.26,27,43,44 Terminate the imitation period for older children when the child engages in the repetitive or off-task behaviors listed in Section 2.2.5.28,31,33,42</li>
		<li>Provide positive reinforcement as the child interacts with the sequences as indicated in Section 2.2.3.</li>
		<li>Repeat Section 2.2.4 if the child appears distracted during the imitation period.</li>
		<li>If immediate imitation is permitted, repeat Sections 2.2, 2.3, and 2.4 for each of the remaining event sequences in turn.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Additional Re-exposure Sessions (After Delays of Days to Weeks)
	<ol>
		<li>Complete the warm-up procedure described in Section 2.1.2.</li>
		<li>Re-model the included event sequences as described in Section 2.3.</li>
		<li>If immediate imitation is permitted, complete the immediate imitation procedure as described in Section 2.4. If immediate imitation is not permitted, allow the child to play with commercially-available distracter toys between sequence demonstrations so as to maintain his/her interest in the task.26,28,43,46</li>
		<li>Repeat Sections 2.5.2 and 2.5.3 for each of the remaining event sequences in turn.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Delayed Recall
	<ol>
		<li>Complete the warm-up procedure described in Section 2.1.2.</li>
		<li>Put the sequence materials for the first event on the table; ensure that the same standardized order is used across participants and sessions.</li>
		<li>Push the props towards the child while providing the name of the event sequence as a retrieval cue. For example, when testing delayed recall for Make a Shaker, say, &#34;You can use this stuff to Make a Shaker. How do you Make a Shaker with this stuff?&#34;.</li>
		<li>Allow children younger than 13 months old between 1&#189; and 2 minutes to interact with the props.26,27,43-45 Terminate the imitation period for older children when the child engages in the repetitive or off-task behaviors listed in Section 2.2.5.28,31,33,42 Participants may or may not reproduce the demonstrated target actions during the delayed recall period.</li>
		<li>Provide positive reinforcement as the child interacts with the sequences as indicated in Section 2.2.3.</li>
		<li>Repeat Section 2.2.4 if the child appears distracted during the delayed recall period.</li>
		<li>Repeat Sections 2.6.2 through 2.6.6 for each of the remaining event sequences in turn.</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
	<li>Data Coding and Reduction
	<ol>
		<li>Create coding rules for each event. The coding rules sheet includes description of when the child receives credit for completing an action and when credit is not awarded. Award credit when the child achieves the action demonstrated by the researcher or when the child clearly attempts to complete the action (intention can be determined in part by watching the child&#39;s gaze). Importantly, in all cases, write coding rules so that the child can complete the target actions in any order.</li>
		<li>Create a data coding sheet that lists each of the included event sequences and the possible steps for each event.</li>
		<li>Have research assistants code videos that have been previously coded by the principal investigator or a senior lab member.</li>
		<li>While watching the videos, circle each target action completed by the child in the temporal order in which the actions are produced.</li>
		<li>Compare the codes by assigning a plus to each agreement and a minus to each disagreement. Train research assistants up to a reliability criterion of at least 90% on three consecutive participants before allowing them to code the study data.</li>
		<li>Compute the overall reliability by dividing the total number of agreements to the total number of codes. More commonly, reliability is coded by counting only the first occurrence of each coded action so as to reduce the likelihood of receiving credit for actions performed by chance or trial-and-error.26-28,31,33,42-45</li>
		<li>Have the trained coder score the remaining videos or have the tester code the data as they are collected (recommended only when participants are 13 months or older29,31).</li>
		<li>Reduce the data to determine the number of target actions and pairs of actions produced for each event at each phase of testing (for example, baseline, immediate imitation, and delayed recall). Only the first occurrence of each target action is commonly considered during data reduction so as to reduce the likelihood of awarding credit for actions produced by chance or trial-and-error.28 Count the number of unique target actions that were coded by sequence (for example, a participant would receive a score of 3 target actions if he/she produced the following sequence of actions: 3-1-2-3).</li>
		<li>Count the number of pairs of actions completed by sequence when considering only the first time each target action was completed (for example, a participant would receive a score of 1 pair of actions if he/she produced the following sequence of actions: 3-1-2-3; a participant would also receive a score of 1 pair of actions if he/she produced the following sequence of actions: 1-3-2-1). 
		Note: The maximum number of target actions possible is the total number of steps in the sequence, whereas the maximum number of pairs of actions is the maximum number of target actions possible minus one.</li>
		<li>Create averages indicating the number of target actions performed at each phase of testing (baseline, immediate imitation, and delayed recall, for example), and for each condition (if applicable). 
		Note: The elicited imitation procedure is administered and scored in the same way whether researchers use sequences with enabling, mixed, or arbitrary associations.28</li>
	</ol>
	</li>
</ol>
<img alt="Figure 2" src="/files/ftp_upload/53347/53347fig2.jpg" /> 
Figure 2: Sample Data Coding Sheet for the Three-step Enabling Event Sequence Make a Shaker. The three target actions (&#34;Put it in,&#34; &#34;Cover it up,&#34; and &#34;Shake it&#34;) are shown multiple times for each of three phases of testing (baseline, immediate imitation, and delayed recall). Space is also provided to record the number of target actions and pairs of actions completed at each phase. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/53347/53347fig2large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>

The authors have nothing to disclose.

Over the past 30 years, many researchers have used elicited or deferred imitation procedures to examine the development of recall memory in infancy and early childhood. One advantage of imitation procedures is that they are highly versatile: as such, they can be modified and adapted to answer various questions relevant to cognitive development. For example, the elicited imitation procedure has been administered in combination with electrophysiological indices of recognition memory so as to examine relations between encod...

The importance of recall memory cannot be overstated: this ability allows humans to report on mundane aspects of their day, such as what happened at their dentist appointment that morning, as well as their most significant life events, such as their wedding day or the day their child was born. Understanding the development of this ability is complicated, however, in that the verbal report methods used to examine recall memory in adults cannot be employed in studies with preverbal infants and children. For this reason, researchers developed a behavioral method known as elicited or deferred imitation to study recall memory before infants and children can discuss the past using language. This manuscript describes the procedure for implementing one version of the elicited or deferred imitation procedure with infants and children from 6 to 24 months of age. The described procedure is unique in that it that allows for the assessment of memory for the individual components of events as well as memory for temporal order information.
Piaget was among the first to indicate that deferred imitation was an index of representational ability.1 He based this conclusion in part on observations of his own children. For instance, Piaget reported that his 16 month-old daughter, Jacqueline, re-enacted a tantrum that she had seen demonstrated approximately 12 hr earlier by a friend. Importantly, Jacqueline imitated the event in the absence of her friend and after a relatively lengthy delay. For these reasons, Piaget reported that Jacqueline must have encoded and maintained a representation of the event so that she could re-enact it after a delay, in the absence of ongoing perceptual support for what she had witnessed earlier. Based on this observation and others, Piaget stated that the ability to recall the past emerged in the second year of life, as children were concurrently developing the ability to engage in symbolic representation (as evidenced by advances in language and pretend play).
More recently, the elicited or deferred imitation procedure has been standardized and is now extensively used to study recall memory and related abilities in preverbal and early-verbal children. In the procedure developed by Patricia Bauer,2,3 participants interact with three-dimensional materials used to create a novel sequence of events for a brief baseline period. A researcher then demonstrates how to complete the sequence of events, oftentimes with narration. Either immediately (immediate imitation) or after a delay ranging from minutes to months (deferred imitation), the participant is allowed the opportunity to imitate. The data are coded to determine whether the child performs (a) the demonstrated actions and (b) whether they are produced in the correct temporal order relative to baseline or relative to novel control sequences presented at the same session (see reference4 for additional information). Comparable but distinct imitation procedures have been developed and used by other researchers, including Andrew Meltzoff5 and Harlene Hayne.6,7
Multiple arguments have been proposed to indicate that the type of memory assessed in the elicited or deferred imitation procedure is declarative or explicit in nature (instead of non-declarative or implicit; see reference8 for information on the multiple memory systems perspective). Although an exhaustive list of relevant arguments can be found in other sources,9-14 three of the primary points are provided here. One indication that the type of memory being assessed is explicit or declarative in nature is that children talk about events that were experienced behaviorally in the context of the imitation procedure once they gain access to language;15,16 because implicit or non-declarative memories cannot be accessed using language, evidence of later verbal accessibility strongly suggests that the type of memory under investigation is declarative or explicit. Another argument is that individuals with damage to the medial temporal lobe17 or the hippocampus18 are impaired on age-appropriate imitation tasks. Because declarative or explicit memories rely on the functioning of the hippocampus and associated medial temporal lobe structures,19 evidence of reduced performance by individuals with brain damage to these regions suggests that the type of memory assessed is declarative or explicit. The third argument to indicate that imitation assesses recall memory in particular is that there is no perceptual support available to cue memory for temporal order information.13 Although the sequence materials themselves might serve to cue recall for individual target actions, the props used to complete the event provide no useful information as to the temporal order in which the target actions must be completed. As such, temporal order information must be encoded upon event demonstration and maintained over time. For these reasons, the elicited imitation procedure is commonly regarded as the gold standard for studying recall memory in preverbal and early-verbal infants and children (see references10,13,14,20-22).
Use of the elicited imitation procedure has provided a strong foundation for understanding advances in recall memory over the first three years of life. As discussed in previous reviews,4,23,24 developments in recall are evident in the duration of time over which memories are retained and in the robustness of established memories. In terms of duration, researchers have indicated that 6-month-old infants recall one step of a 3-step event sequence for up to 24 hr.6,25 By the time infants are 9 months of age, they remember the individual target actions that comprise a 2-step event sequence for 1 month.26,27 Memory for temporal order information is less robust, such that only approximately 50% of infants remember the order in which a 2-step sequence was previously demonstrated. When infants are 10 months of age, memory for individual target actions is retained for 6 months and temporal order information is maintained for 3 months.27 Only 10 months later, when children are 20 months of age, evidence of memory for temporal order information is apparent over durations of 12 months (and may even be evident for longer &#8211; 12 months was the longest duration over which the participants tested28).
When considering the robustness of recall, age-related changes are apparent in the number of exposures required to support retention and in the ability to flexibly apply learned information. For example, 6-month-olds require as many as 6 exposures to evidence memory over a 24 hr delay,6 whereas 20 month-olds need only one exposure to demonstrate recall after 1 month.29 In terms of representational flexibility, 12 month-olds do not generalize their learning across exemplars that only differ in color. Eighteen month-olds generalize their learning across cues that differ only in color, but do not demonstrate generalization when novel exemplars differ in both color and form. At 21 months, however, generalization across cues is more robust, such that children flexibly apply their learning to novel exemplars that vary on both dimensions.7 Moreover, research suggests that generalization is not born of forgetting: children retain information about the specific features of the original events as they flexibly apply their learning in new situations.30,31
The goal of this manuscript is to describe the elicited imitation procedure developed by Bauer in detail. The method described herein is unique in that the procedure allows for assessment of both memory for individual actions demonstrated by the researcher as well as memory for temporal order. As indicated previously, it is important to note that there is no perceptual information present within the individual props to cue the order in which the specific actions should be completed. Therefore, memory for pairs of actions completed in the correct temporal order is a more stringent test of recall relative to reproduction of individual target actions.
The three-dimensional stimuli used in the elicited imitation procedure are commonly created from commercially-available toys or constructed out of plastic and/or wood. The stimuli depict events that are either novel to the participants (such as making a gong or a merry-go-round) or events with which children may have had previous experience (such as feeding a baby or putting a teddy bear to bed; see references2,3,32 for studies that compare mnemonic performance on familiar versus novel events). Event sequences are further classified as being constrained by enabling relations, having arbitrary associations, or are mixed, such that they include some steps that are linked by enabling relations and others that are arbitrary in nature. Steps of sequences constrained by enabling relations must be completed in a specified temporal order for the sequence end-state to become apparent (although the sequences must be constructed so that children can perform all of the actions in any order). Figure 1 shows a three-step event sequence that is constrained by enabling relations.33 For studies with children younger than 20 months of age, sequences constrained by enabling relations are most often utilized, as children of these ages demonstrate chance performance (i.e., completing fewer than 50% of the demonstrated pairs of actions on sequences with arbitrary associations;34 see references2,28,32,35-37 for studies that compare mnemonic performance on events with different sequence constraints).
<img alt="Figure 1" src="/files/ftp_upload/53347/53347fig1.jpg" /> 
Figure 1: Example of the Three-step Enabling Event Sequence Make a Shaker. The left panel shows the first step of putting the block into one of the nesting cups; the middle panel shows the second step of assembling the nesting cups; the right panel shows the third step of shaking the assembled apparatus. The target actions must be performed in the correct temporal order for the sequence end-state to be realized, although the sequence materials are constructed so that the actions can be completed in any order. Figure and portions of the caption reproduced with permission from references.33,42 <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/53347/53347fig1large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
The elicited imitation procedure is most frequently used with infants and children ranging in age from 6 to 24 months (although methodological alterations can be made to accommodate the testing of older children and adults17,18). Typically developing or control participants are commonly recruited so that they are born at term (38 &#177; 2 weeks) and have not experienced any pre- or perinatal conditions that might negatively impact brain development and recall memory, as conditions such as preterm birth38,39 and gestational diabetes40,41 have been associated with reduced recall. In addition, researchers should be aware of the native language of the participants33,42 if verbal labels will be used during sequence demonstration or as retrieval cues.

<table><tbody><tr><td>Camcorder</td><td>Canon</td><td>VIXIA HF R600 HD Flash Memory Camcorder</td><td>Any commercially-available camcorder that records in color and has audio will suffice</td></tr></tbody></table>

examining recall memory in infancy and early childhood using the elicited imitation paradigm

The ability to recall the past allows us to report on details of previous experiences, from the everyday to the significant. Because recall memory is commonly assessed using verbal report paradigms in adults, studying the development of this ability in preverbal infants and children proved challenging. Over the past 30 years, researchers have developed a non-verbal means of assessing recall memory known as the elicited or deferred imitation paradigm. In one variant of the procedure, participants are presented with novel three-dimensional stimuli for a brief baseline period before a researcher demonstrates a series of actions that culminate in an end- or goal-state. The participant is allowed to imitate the demonstrated actions immediately, after a delay, or both. Recall performance is then compared to baseline or to performance on novel control sequences presented at the same session; memory can be assessed for the individual target actions and the order in which they were completed. This procedure is an accepted analogue to the verbal report techniques used with adults, and it has served to establish a solid foundation of the nature of recall memory in infancy and early childhood. In addition, the elicited or deferred imitation procedure has been modified and adapted to answer questions relevant to other aspects of cognitive functioning. The broad utility and application of imitation paradigms is discussed, along with limitations of the approach and directions for future research.

A recent elicited imitation study examined whether child language comprehension moderated the relation between the use of supportive adult language at sequence demonstration when recall was assessed behaviorally at encoding (immediate imitation) and at delayed recall 1 week later.33 Sixteen month-old children were presented with 6 novel 3-step event sequences that were constrained by enabling relations. After a brief baseline period, a researcher demonstrated each of two event ...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm at JoVE.com

Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm

The elicited imitation procedure was established to examine the development of recall memory in infancy and early childhood. This procedure has been widely used to establish a solid foundation of the nature of recall memory in infancy and early childhood.

The ability to recall the past allows us to report on details of previous experiences, from the everyday to the significant. Because recall memory is ...

examining-recall-memory-infancy-early-childhood-using-elicited

Research

Education

JoVE Core

JoVE Journal

Introduction to Psychology

Behavior

Unit 1

Memory

SCIENTISTS IN ACTION

33.8K Views.  University of California-Irvine. The elicited imitation procedure was established to examine the development of recall memory in infancy and early childhood. This procedure has been widely used to establish a solid foundation of the nature of recall memory in infancy and early childhood.

Video: Examining Recall Memory in Infancy and Early Childhood Using the Elicited Imitation Paradigm

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotional Autobiographical Recollection

Recollection of emotional autobiographical memories (AMs) is important to healthy cognitive and affective functioning 1 - remembering positive AMs is associated with increased personal well-being and self-esteem 2, whereas remembering and ruminating on negative AMs may lead to affective disorders 3. Although significant progress has been made in understanding the brain mechanisms underlying AM retrieval in general (reviewed in 4, 5), less is known about the effect of emotion on the subjective re-experience of AMs and the associated neural correlates. This is in part due to the fact that, unlike the investigations of the emotion effect on memory for laboratory-based microevents (reviewed in 6, 7-9), often times AM studies do not have a clear focus on the emotional aspects of remembering personal events (but see 10). Here, we present a protocol that allows investigation of the neural correlates of recollecting emotional AMs using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Cues for these memories are collected prior to scanning by means of an autobiographical memory questionnaire (AMQ), therefore allowing for proper selection of emotional AMs based on their phenomenological properties (i.e., intensity, vividness, personal significance). This protocol can be used in healthy and clinical populations alike.

We present a protocol that allows investigation of the neural correlates of recollecting emotional autobiographical memories, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. This protocol can be used with both healthy and clinical participants.

Recollection of emotional autobiographical memories (AMs) is important to healthy cognitive and affective functioning 1 - remembering positive AMs is ...

Neuroscience

A Novel Experimental and Analytical Approach to the Multimodal Neural Decoding of Intent During Social Interaction in Freely-behaving Human Infants

Understanding typical and atypical development remains one of the fundamental questions in developmental human neuroscience. Traditionally, experimental paradigms and analysis tools have been limited to constrained laboratory tasks and contexts due to technical limitations imposed by the available set of measuring and analysis techniques and the age of the subjects. These limitations severely limit the study of developmental neural dynamics and associated neural networks engaged in cognition, perception and action in infants performing &#8220;in action and in context&#8221;. This protocol presents a novel approach to study infants and young children as they freely organize their own behavior, and its consequences in a complex, partly unpredictable and highly dynamic environment. The proposed methodology integrates synchronized high-density active scalp electroencephalography (EEG), inertial measurement units (IMUs), video recording and behavioral analysis to capture brain activity and movement non-invasively in freely-behaving infants. This setup allows for the study of neural network dynamics in the developing brain, in action and context, as these networks are recruited during goal-oriented, exploration and social interaction tasks.

This protocol presents a novel methodology for the neural decoding of intent from freely-behaving infants during unscripted social interaction with an actor. Neural activity is acquired using non-invasive high-density active scalp electroencephalography (EEG). Kinematic data is collected with inertial measurement units and supplemented with synchronized video recording.

Understanding typical and atypical development remains one of the fundamental questions in developmental human neuroscience. Traditionally, experimental ...

Experience is Instrumental in Tuning a Link Between Language and Cognition: Evidence from 6-  to 7- Month-Old Infants' Object Categorization

At birth, infants not only prefer listening to human vocalizations, but also have begun to link these vocalizations to cognition: For infants as young as three months of age, listening to human language supports object categorization, a core cognitive capacity. This precocious link is initially broad: At 3 and 4 months, vocalizations of both humans and nonhuman primates support categorization. But by 6 months, infants have narrowed the link: Only human vocalizations support object categorization. Here we ask what guides infants as they tune their initially broad link to a more precise one, engaged only by the vocalizations of our species. Across three studies, we use a novel exposure paradigm to examine the effects of experience. We document that merely exposing infants to nonhuman primate vocalizations enables infants to preserve the early-established link between this signal and categorization. In contrast, exposing infants to backward speech &#8212; a signal that fails to support categorization at any age &#8212; offers no such advantage. Our findings reveal the power of early experience as infants specify which signals, from an initially broad set, they will continue to link to cognition.

At 3-4 months, listening to human and nonhuman primate vocalizations boosts infants&#39; cognition; by 6 months, only human vocalizations exert this cognitive advantage. We describe an exposure manipulation that reveals the powerful shaping role of experience as infants specify which sounds to link to cognition and which to tune out.

At birth, infants not only prefer listening to human vocalizations, but also have begun to link these vocalizations to cognition: For infants as young as ...

Using a Classroom-Based Deese Roediger McDermott Paradigm to Assess the Effects of Imagery on False Memories

Associated word list procedures can elicit false memories in predictable ways by inducing associative processing, thus making it harder to monitor the accuracy of memories. The purpose of the method presented here was to induce false memories using lists of either semantically or phonologically related words and to assess the effects of imagery instructions on the recall and recognition of those false memories. To do this, we used a modified version of the Deese Roediger McDermott (DRM) paradigm. We adapted word lists from previous DRM studies to suit imagery procedures and created an automated presentation to present the word lists in classroom settings. We then recruited undergraduate classes and instructed some of the classes to create mental images of the list words as they were being presented, while instructing the other classes to simply remember the words. The automated presentation presented word lists to participants, one word at a time, alternating between phonologically and semantically related lists. Participants used paper-pencil recall packets to immediately recall list items, complete a distractor activity, and take a subsequent final recognition test. Often, participants immediately recalled and later recognized words that were related to the list items but were not actually presented; these are known as critical lures and indicate a false memory. The protocol detailed here describes a four-step procedure - list presentation, immediate recall, distractor phase, and final recognition - that can assess the effects of list type and imagery instruction within the DRM paradigm on memory. The automated nature of the list presentation provides the ability to systematically vary variables of interest, and the paper and pencil method of data collection affords an easily accessible method for collecting data in classroom settings. The protocol also offers options to modify the procedure to a more traditional DRM paradigm without imagery and/or list type manipulations. The use of this protocol can provide results relevant to both classroom learning and cognitive science principles.

The method presented here induced false memories using lists of related words and also assessed the effects of imagery instructions on the recall and recognition of those false memories. This protocol details a modified version of the Deese Roediger McDermott (DRM) paradigm.

Associated word list procedures can elicit false memories in predictable ways by inducing associative processing, thus making it harder to monitor the ...

Defining the Role Of Language in Infants' Object Categorization with Eye-tracking Paradigms

Assessing infant category learning is a challenging but vital aspect of studying infant cognition. By employing a familiarization-test paradigm, we straightforwardly measure infants&#8217; success in learning a novel category while relying only on their looking behavior. Moreover, the paradigm can directly measure the impact of different auditory signals on the infant categorization across a range of ages. For instance, we assessed how 2-year-olds learn categories in a variety of labeling environments: in our task, 2-year-olds successfully learned categories when all exemplars were labeled&#160;or the first two exemplars were labeled, but they failed to categorize when no exemplars were labeled or only the final two exemplars were labeled. To determine infants&#8217; success in such tasks, researchers can examine both the overall preference displayed by infants in each condition and infants&#8217; pattern of looking over the course of the test phase, using an eye-tracker to provide fine-grained time-course data. Thus, we present a powerful paradigm for identifying the role of language, or any auditory signal, in infants&#8217; object category learning.

Here we present a protocol for familiarization-test paradigms which provide a direct test of infant categorization and help to define the role of language in early category learning.

Assessing infant category learning is a challenging but vital aspect of studying infant cognition. By employing a familiarization-test paradigm, we ...

A Behavioral Task Modeling 'Everyday Memory' in an Event Arena to Foster Allocentric Representations for Rodents

The event arena provides an optimal platform to investigate learning and memory. The appetitive everyday memory task described in this paper provides a robust protocol for the investigation of episodic and spatial memory in rodents, which specifically fosters allocentric memory representation. Rats are trained to find and dig for food during the encoding phase and, after a time delay, rats are given a choice to find the reward food pellet in the correct location. There are two key elements that promote the use of an allocentric strategy in this protocol: 1) rats start from different start locations within and between sessions, 2) a stable home-base is deployed where rats have to carry their food to eat. By means of these modifications, we effectively encourage the rodents to use allocentric spatial representations to perform the task. In addition, the task provides a good paradigm for within-subject experimental design and allows experimenters to manipulate different conditions to reduce variability. Used in conjunction with behavioral and physiological techniques, the resulting rodent model provides an effective test-bed for future research into memory formation and retention.

The goal of this optimized 'everyday memory' protocol in an event arena was to employ a stable home-base that encourages the use of allocentric spatial representations. This animal model provides an effective test-bed for future research into the formation and retention of event memories using behavioral and physiological techniques.

The event arena provides an optimal platform to investigate learning and memory. The appetitive everyday memory task described in this paper provides a ...

A Familiarization Protocol Facilitates the Participation of Children with ASD in Electrophysiological Research

This paper includes a detailed description of a familiarization protocol, which is used as an integral component of a larger research protocol to collect electroencephalography (EEG) data and Event-Related Potentials (ERPs). At present, the systems available for the collection of high-quality EEG/ERP data make significant demands on children with developmental disabilities, such as those with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Children with ASD may have difficulty adapting to novel situations, tolerating uncomfortable sensory stimuli, and sitting quietly. This familiarization protocol uses Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs) to increase research participants&#39; knowledge and understanding of the specific activities and steps of the research protocol. The tools in this familiarization protocol are a social narrative, a visual schedule, the Premack principle, role-playing, and modeling. The goal of this familiarization protocol is to increase understanding and agency and to potentially reduce anxiety for child participants, resulting in a greater likelihood of the successful completion of the research protocol for the collection of EEG/ERP data.

Electrophysiological research is an important tool for identifying biomarkers of developmental disorders, including Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), but data collection in these populations remains challenging. This work presents a familiarization protocol to accompany research that includes electroencephalography (EEG) to improve the likelihood of collecting EEG data from children with ASD.

This paper includes a detailed description of a familiarization protocol, which is used as an integral component of a larger research protocol to collect ...

Using Your Head: Measuring Infants' Rational Imitation of Actions

Source: Laboratories of Judith Danovitch and Nicholaus Noles&#8212;University of Louisville
One of the main challenges of infancy is to learn how to achieve one&#8217;s goals in the world, whether they are to pick up a toy or to express desires to another person, and one of the most powerful tools in this learning process is imitation. However, imitation is not always as simple as copying other people&#8217;s actions; it is also necessary to realize that goals and intentions guide behavior. The world is a complicated place, and the actions that babies imitate are not perfectly presented. For example, consider a baby watching their father drinking from a plastic water bottle. As he picks up the bottle, he accidentally drops it on the floor. He picks it up and dusts it off, before turning the cap and taking a drink. If the baby wants to drink from the bottle on their own, they have to decode this complex set of events and determine which actions are related to their goal. Do they have to drop it and dust it off, or can they simply turn the cap and take a drink?
One way to solve this problem is to view many examples of the same behavior, but some behaviors are rare or different each time they are performed. Thus, it is beneficial for infants to think more about the person they are imitating and less about the specific situation they are observing. If infants assume that others are rational and have goals they are efficiently pursuing, then they can observe a complex event and separate the goal-oriented actions from actions that are incidental or unrelated to their goals. Analyzing the reasons underlying a person&#8217;s behavior allows infants to decide whether it makes sense to imitate that person&#8217;s exact actions or to do things in a simpler or more effective way.
This experiment demonstrates how to measure infant&#8217;s rational imitation of an actor using the methods developed by Meltzoff1 and Gergely, Bekkering, and Kiraly.2

Using Your Head: Measuring Infants&#039; Rational Imitation of Actions

Source: Laboratories of Judith Danovitch and Nicholaus Noles&#8212;University of Louisville
One of the main challenges of infancy is to learn how to ...

JoVE Science Education

Psychology

Developmental Psychology

Incidental Encoding

Source: Laboratory of Jonathan Flombaum&#8212;Johns Hopkins University

Long-term memory is a critical feature of human cognition, and it has been a prominent focus of research in experimental psychology. Many paradigms designed to tap long-term memory rely on asking participants to learn or study content, then test memory about that content. This is a good approach if one wants to understand how memory supports educational achievement, for example, where explicit study is part of the process. But, in day-to-day life, people often form new memories&#8212;many of which last for a long time&#8212;incidentally. People do not remember what they read in a magazine, the moment a partner was met, or the plot of a favorite story because they try to. Somehow, a good deal of experience just gets encoded into memory as life goes by. To study this side of long-term memory, experimental psychologists use something called an incidental-encoding paradigm.
The paradigm is especially useful for investigating the kinds of experiences that tend to produce strong long-term memories. Researchers think about experiences in terms of the kind of engagement they demand&#8212;personal, purely intellectual, deep, or shallow, for example. The incidental-encoding paradigm can be used to contrast long-term memory formation during different kinds of engagement by varying the cover task used to expose an individual to stimuli. A cover task is a task that a participant is asked to complete without knowing that memory for the stimuli in the task is tested later.
This video demonstrates standard procedures for using the incidental-encoding paradigm and two different cover tasks to investigate long-term memory when explicit study of a stimulus is not demanded.

Incidental Encoding: Investigating Implicit Long-term Memory

Source: Laboratory of Jonathan Flombaum&#8212;Johns Hopkins University

Long-term memory is a critical feature of human cognition, and it has been a ...

Cognitive Psychology

Memory Development: Demonstrating How Repeated Questioning Leads to False Memories

Source: Laboratories of Judith Danovitch and Nicholaus Noles&#8212;University of Louisville
A person is defined as a unique individual based on the people and events they encounter in their lives. Thus, creating, storing, and recalling memories are essential elements of the human experience. However, memory, as adults experience it, takes time to develop. Although young children can learn facts and remember details of their lives from moment-to-moment and day-to-day, they do not create autobiographical memories or detailed memories of events that happen in their lives until age 3 or older.
Even after age 3, children&#8217;s memories differ from those of adults in important ways. Children are less effective at evaluating their own memories than adults, which makes it difficult for them to determine, for example, whether or not their memories are accurate. False memories are a problem for both children and adults, as it is quite easy to create a false memory with a poorly-worded question or a story repeated over and over. However, young children are more susceptible to creating false memories than either older children or adults.
This video demonstrates children&#8217;s vulnerability to false memories using a method developed by Steven Ceci and his collaborators.1-2

Demonstrating How Repeated Questioning Leads to False Memories

Source: Laboratories of Judith Danovitch and Nicholaus Noles&#8212;University of Louisville
A person is defined as a unique individual based on the people ...