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The Development of Clustering in Episodic Memory: A Cognitive‐Modeling Approach
Author(s) -
Horn Sebastian S.,
Bayen Ute J.,
Michalkiewicz Martha
Publication year - 2020
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.13407
Subject(s) - psychology , recall , free recall , episodic memory , recall test , developmental psychology , cognition , cognitive psychology , categorical variable , memory development , california verbal learning test , cognitive development , task (project management) , verbal learning , management , neuroscience , computer science , economics , machine learning
Younger children’s free recall from episodic memory is typically less organized than recall by older children. To investigate if and how repeated learning opportunities help children use organizational strategies that improve recall, the authors analyzed category clustering across four study‐test cycles. Seven‐year‐olds, 10‐year‐olds, and young adults ( N = 150) studied categorically related words for a free‐recall task. The cognitive processes underlying recall and clustering were measured with a multinomial model. The modeling revealed that developmental differences emerged particularly in the rate of learning to encode words as categorical clusters. The learning curves showed a common pattern across age groups, indicating developmental invariance. Memory for individual items also contributed to developmental differences and was the only factor driving 7‐year‐olds’ moderate improvements in recall.