Array Effects, Spatial Concepts, or Information Processing Speed
What is the Crucial Variable for Place Learning?
Abstract
A reaction time/accuracy experiment investigated the development of visual memory for object shape and location in 6–7- and 8–9-year-old children and adults (N = 72) in three array types: (1) an empty screen, (2) a frame delineating a region, and (3) a grid with individually delineated places. A maximized learning design was used. Explicit array boundaries in the frame and in the grid facilitated place memory in both children and adults, while place memory in the empty screen was less correct, slower, and did not improve. Children’s visual memory was initially low, but learning during the task resulted in better object than place memory. Like the children at the end of the session, adults showed better object than place memory at the beginning of the task. They subsequently also improved their object memory, but doubled their place memory performance. Children with object-region binding showed better place memory and more systematic learning effects that were specific to arrays. However, neither array boundaries nor spatial binding concepts explained the absence of place learning in children. Instead, children tried to prevent proactive shape interference in the repeated memory sets at the cost of place learning, while adults did not.
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