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The Eyes Know Time: A Novel Paradigm to Reveal the Development of Temporal Memory
Author(s) -
Pathman Thanujeni,
Ghetti Simona
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.12152
Subject(s) - psychology , eye movement , cognitive psychology , context (archaeology) , cognition , recognition memory , developmental psychology , neuroscience , paleontology , biology
Temporal memory in 7‐year‐olds, 10‐year‐olds, and young adults ( N = 78) was examined introducing a novel eye‐movement paradigm. Participants learned object sequences and were tested under three conditions: temporal order, temporal context, and recognition. Age‐related improvements in accuracy were found across conditions; accuracy in the temporal conditions was correlated with conventional time knowledge. Eye movements tracked the veridicality of temporal order memory in adults and 10‐year‐olds seconds before providing memory judgments, suggesting that these movements reflect implicit access to temporal information. Seven‐year‐olds overall did not show this eye‐movement effect, but those who did were more accurate than those who did not. Results suggest that eye movements capture aspects of temporal memory development that precede overt decision processes—with implications for hippocampal development.