Chapter 7 - Cognitive Processes and Academic Skills Memory in Infancy

First Memories

Rovee-Collier (1987, 2007) and Cuevas (2009): Demonstrated that infants of 2-6 months remember perceptual-motor information through ages 1-1/2 to 2 

Used operant conditioning by having babies kick a ribbon to cause the mobile to move. One year later, babies still remembered to kick the ribbon to make the mobile move.

Mandler (2000)

-Argued that infants in Rovee-Collier’s experiments displayed only implicit memory

instead, infants are capable of long-term memories that are perceptually based

Long term memories are “implicit”, infant is not consciously aware 

Implicit Memory

-Memory without conscious recollection

Memory of skills and routine procedures are performed automatically

Ex; Mobile task

Explicit Memory

Conscious memory of facts and experiences

-Does not occur until the second half of the first year and improves substantially during the second year of life (age 2 and 3)

-Language has as role in consolidating explicit memories

Example: Moment in your infancy

Brain Structures in Memory Development (Infancy)

Largely spread out across the Cerebral cortex, Frontal Lobe and the Hippocampus

1. Fusiform Gyrus - Important for face recognition

2. Frontal Lobe - Important for deploying information to various areas of the brain

3. Hippocampus - Involved in long-term memories (ex; Patient HM experiencing difficulty forming long-term memories)