A time window is a limited period after an event initially occurs in which additional information can be integrated with the memory of that event. It shuts when the memory is forgotten. The time window hypothesis holds that the impact of a manipulation at different points within the time window is nonuniform. In two operant conditioning…

In 1 experiment, infants' ability to retain a memory for 24 hours was disrupted when infants were trained in 1 situational context and tested in another but not when they were trained in multiple contexts. In a second experiment, training in multiple contexts did not facilitate memory retrieval in a novel context after a long delay. (BC)

Past research using a deferred imitation task has shown that 6-month-olds remember a 3-part action sequence for only 1 day. The concept of a time window suggests that there is a limited period within which additional information can be integrated with a prior memory. Its width tracks the forgetting function of the memory. This study asked if…

Reviews the use of memory measures in the literature. Suggests problems with assumptions underlying Bogartz's proposed new measure. Responds to specific criticisms by claiming that Bogartz is critical of two measures that are not even used, unfamiliar with traditional conditioning theory, wrong in an assertion about traditional measures, and…

Reports evidence from two studies of three-month-old infants indicating that normal memory retrieval is a time-locked process. In addition, individual data suggest that the retrieval may be continuous rather than discontinuous. (JN)

Examined the contribution of specific contextual attributes to six-month-old infants' recognition of a well-learned cue. Infants did not encode contextual information in a holistic manner. The perceptual identification of contextual cues that were represented in the memory of an event was requisite for the retrieval of the memory. (GLR)

The ability of six-month-old infants to remember a functional category acquired in a specific context was assessed in three experiments. Findings revealed that at six months, information about the place where categories are constructed is prerequisite for retrieval of a category concept from long-term memory. (GLR)

Three experiments examined whether the perception and retention of feature relations, thought to be critical for object recognition in adults, are evident in early infancy. Three month olds' 24-hour retention was disrupted when features of a 6-item mobile were recombined, indicating that they not only encode feature relations but also remember…

Three experiments manipulated 3-month-olds' attention to different components of a training display and assessed the effect on retention. Results suggested that increasing or decreasing attention to an item during encoding produces a corresponding increase or decrease in memorability. Findings were consistent with a levels-of-processing account…

Assesses the effect of delay between an event and new postevent information related to it in six-month-old infants' memory. Three phenomena were studied: memory impairment, memory facilitation, and categorization. Suggests that postevent information has different qualitative effects depending on its timing, and provides a basis for understanding…

Two experiments examined whether associating an imitation task with an operant task affected 6-month-olds' memory for either task. Results indicated that infants successfully imitated a puppet's action for up to 2 weeks only if the associated operant task (pressing a lever to activate a miniature train) was retrieved first. Follow-up study…

Three experiments examined the memory-preserving effects of reactivation and reinstatement reminders following 6-month-olds' learning and forgetting of an operant task. Findings indicated that a single reactivation reminder extended infants' memory of an operant mobile task for 2 weeks, a single reinstatement extended it for 4 weeks. A single…

Six-month-old infants recognize a cue 24 hours after training in the original context but not in a different one. It is demonstrated that this retrieval deficit could be overcome if infants are briefly and passively exposed to a novel context. Concludes that each training episode is encoded in terms of the context in which it occurs. Contains 48…

Young infants remember their prior experiences for relatively long periods with surprising specificity, and even seemingly forgotten memories can often be reactivated to further protract retention. These reactivations can be programmed in ways that optimize cumulative learning and retention, based on the principles embodied in the time-window…

Three experiments examined characteristics of a stimulus-cueing retrieval from long-term memory for 3-month olds. Used mobiles displaying either Qs (feature-present stimuli) or Os (feature-absent stimuli) and tested 24 hours later. Findings indicated that target-distractor similarity constraints, whether or not a feature-present stimulus, would…