Previous research has shown that survival-related processing of word lists enhances retention for that material. However, the claim that survival-related memories are more accurate has only been examined when true recall and recognition of neutral material has been measured. In the current experiments, we examined the adaptive memory superiority…

Examined the long-term retention of 216 preschoolers, half of whom received a single slide presentation and while the other half received consecutive presentations until they learned the material to criterion. Exposure to misleading information 3 weeks after the presentation encouraged the preschoolers to report misinformation 4 weeks after the…

Improvements in 5- and 7-year-olds' acquisition and retention of related concept pairings were examined when additional similarities and differences between pair members were provided. Using a standard paired-associate learning paradigm, children learned 18 related picture pairs; some of the children either were given or produced additional…

Examined effects of interfering information and instructions to forget on preschoolers' and kindergartners' story retention. Found that retroactive interference affected preschoolers' storage- and retrieval-based forgetting rates and kindergartners' storage-based forgetting rates. Intentional forgetting reduced retroactive interference primarily…

Two experiments examined the effects of interference on young children's long-term memory using paired-association recall and free recall. The results indicated that children were susceptible to interference, the locus of interference effects was at storage, and that both younger (preschool) and older (kindergarten) children experienced similar…

Examined effect of familiarization on 3.5-month-olds' retention of visual stimuli with varying delay times. Found support for retention models in which direction of attentional preferences (novel, familiar, or null) depends on memory accessibility. Short lookers showed better retention over time than long lookers, indicating that much of the…

Two experiments used paired-comparisons to investigate 3-month olds' recognition of dynamic visual events after various retention intervals. Results indicated a changing pattern of attentional preferences over time consistent with models of infant recognition memory in which novelty, familiarity, and null preferences are considered conjointly and…

Considers the relative lack of research attention to retention in developmental psychology and recent findings on age differences in retention. Highlights unresolved issues and how Bauer and colleagues' work may help set the research agenda and contribute to a shift in how early childhood retention is studied. Discusses memory strength,…

Examined misinformation effects in kindergartners' and second graders' long-term recollection. Results of two experiments showed that (1) misinformation effects were related to rate of forgetting but not to age; (2) developmental differences in retention were controlled by forgetting; and (3) reminiscence increased the probability of correct…