Developmental Changes in Spreading Activation: Associating Visual Recognition Memory and Deferred Imitation in 6- and 12-Month-Old Infants

Abstract

Infants remember some experimental tasks longer than others; however, previous research has shown that, if two tasks are presented within the same session, infants remember the shorter-lived task for as long as they remember the longer-lived task. The finding that activating one memory leads to the recollection of other memories that share overlapping features is referred to as spreading activation. The primary goal of the present study was to explore age-related changes in spreading activation during the infancy period. To do this, we presented 6- and 12-month-old infants with two tasks within the same experimental session; one task, the visual recognition memory paradigm (VRM), is typically forgotten quickly, while the other task, deferred imitation, is typically remembered longer. We found that 12-month-olds exhibited spreading activation, but only if their memory was strengthened by allowing them to practice the deferred imitation task prior to the retention interval. Six-month-olds, on the other hand, did not exhibit spreading activation with these tasks even when they were allowed to practice. These findings suggest that the probability of spreading activation increases as a function of age and have important implications for understanding the early basis of mnemonic networks.