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Childhood is a period when memory consolidation and knowledge base undergo rapid changes. The present study examined short-delay (overnight) and long-delay (after a 2-week period) consolidation of new information either congruent or incongruent with prior knowledge in typically developing 6- to 8-year-old children (n = 32), 9- to 11-year-old children (n = 33), and 18- to 30-year-old young adults (YA; n = 39). Both memory accessibility (cued recall of objects) and precision (precision of object placement) of initially well-learned object–scene pairs were measured. Our results showed that overnight, memory accessibility declined similarly in all age groups; memory precision improved more in younger children (YC) compared to older children (OC) and even declined in YA. After a 2-week period, both memory accessibility and precision became worse. Specifically, while age groups showed similar decline in memory accessibility, precision decline was less in YC than in OC and YA. The accessibility and precision of congruent and incongruent information changed similarly with consolidation in all age groups. Taken together, our results showed that, for initially well-learned information, YC have robust memory consolidation, despite their overall lower mnemonic performance compared to OC and YA, which is potentially crucial for stable and precise knowledge accumulation early on in development. Public Significance Statement: This study suggests that children can access well-learned information and retain its precision over long delays, indicating robust memory consolidation. It is not guided by congruency bias, suggesting equal weighting of incoming information and flexible schema formation. Because rapid accumulation of knowledge in children is crucial for later academic success, understanding how memories are retained as time passes is important for promoting successful and effective learning across different developmental groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characterization of the relationship between predictions and one-shot episodic encoding poses an important challenge for memory research. On the one hand, events that are compatible with our previous knowledge are thought to be remembered better than incompatible ones. On the other hand, unexpected situations, by virtue of their novelty, are known to cause enhanced learning. Several theoretical accounts try to solve this apparent paradox by conceptualizing prediction error (PE) as a continuum ranging from low PE (for expectation-matching events) to high PE (for expectation-mismatching ones). Under such a framework, the relationship between PE and memory encoding would be described by a U-shape function with higher memory performance for extreme levels of PE and lower memory for middle levels of PE. In this study, we tested the framework by using a gradual manipulation of the strength of association between scenes and objects to render different levels of PE and then tested for item memory of the (mis)matching events. In two experiments, in contrast to what was anticipated, recognition memory for object identity followed an inverted U-shape as a function of PE, with higher performance for intermediate levels of PE. Furthermore, in two additional experiments, we showed the relevance of explicit predictions at encoding to reveal such an inverted U pattern, thus providing the boundary conditions of the effect. We discussed our findings in light of existing literature relating PE and episodic memory, pointing out the potential roles of uncertainty in the environment, and the importance of the cognitive operations underlying encoding tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successful navigation to spatial locations relies on lasting memories from previous experiences. Spatial navigation undergoes profound maturational changes during childhood. It is unclear how well children can consolidate navigation-based spatial memories and if age-related variations in navigation during training predict spatial memory. The present study examined the immediate and long-delay (after a 2-week period) consolidation of navigation-based spatial memories in 6- to 8-year-old children (n = 33, 18 female/15 male, M age = 7.61, SD age = 0.71), 9- to 11-year-old children ( n = 32, 13 female/19 male, M age = 9.90, SD age = 0.59), and 20- to 30-year-old adults ( n = 31, 15 female/16 male, M age = 23.71, SD age = 2.87). Our results showed that, with age, participants navigated more efficiently during training and formed better immediate spatial memories. Long-delay spatial memory retention after 2 weeks was comparable between children and adults, indicating robust consolidation even in children. Interestingly, while children successfully distinguished between perceptually detailed landmarks after 2 weeks, their abstract knowledge of spatial boundaries and cognitive map of landmark relations was poor. Developmental trajectories were similar for egocentric and allocentric spatial memory. Age-related variations in initial navigation were predictive of spatial memory, that is, children with a more mature initial navigation were more likely to find and remember spatial locations immediately and after a 2-week delay. Taken together, our results show an overall robust spatial memory consolidation in mid and late childhood that can be predicted by initial navigation behavior, coupled with nuanced age differences in the recall of spatial boundaries and cognitive maps. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).