Do the operating characteristics of memory continue to bear the imprints of ancestral selection pressures? Previous work in our laboratory has shown that human memory may be specially tuned to retain information processed in terms of its survival relevance. A few seconds of survival processing in an incidental learning context can produce recall…

Incidental learning research with mentally retarded children has produced findings inconsistent with those reported for the intellectually normal population. This study was designed to further investigate the efficacy of incidental semantic classification instructions relative to taxonomic classification instructions or superficial color…

An incidental memory paradigm was used to study involuntary encoding processes and voluntary retrieval strategies in children's memory. Subjects were 16 preschool children and 16 kindergarten children. (Author/MP)