Search

Mind wandering occurs when attention becomes disengaged from the here-and-now and directed toward internally generated thoughts; this is often associated with poorer performance on educationally significant tasks. In this study, 8- to 9-year-old children (N = 60) listened to audio stories embedded with intermittent thought probes that were used to determine if participants' thoughts were on or off task. The key objective was to explore the impact of probe-caught mind wandering on both immediate and delayed memory retention. Children reported being off task approximately 24% of the time. Most inattention episodes were classified as task-unrelated thoughts (i.e., 'pure' instances of mind wandering, 9%) or attentional failures due to distractions (9%). Higher frequency of mind wandering was strongly associated with poorer memory recall, and task-unrelated thoughts strongly predicted how well children could recall components of the audio story both immediately after the task and after a 1-week delay. This study is the first to demonstrate the impact of mind wandering on delayed memory retention in children. Results suggest that exploring mind wandering in the foundational years of schooling could provide the necessary empirical foundation for the development of practical interventions geared toward detecting and refocusing lapses of attention in educational contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adults' ability to accurately evaluate children's statements can have far-reaching consequences within the legal system. This study examined the evaluations of police officers ("experts") and laypersons ("nonexperts") when presented with videotaped interviews of children aged 3 and 5 years who provided either true or false reports or denials. Participants were drawn from several counties in the eastern United States. Children's interview statements fell within four statement types: accurate reports, false reports, accurate denials, and false denials. Both groups of participants displayed overbelief in false denials. Several control variables predicted accuracy, including children's age and children's race. A significant interaction emerged: Experts (vs. nonexperts) had greater odds of being accurate when judging false reports (vs. false denials). These findings highlight the challenges adults face when distinguishing between various types of children's statements. The results have important implications for legal contexts, emphasizing that fact finders need to be mindful of the risks associated with both overaccepting false denials and accepting false reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Successful active learning has often been quantified with respect to either the efficiency of information search or the accuracy of subsequent recall. In this article, we explored the hypothesis that children's memory is influenced by the types of information search strategies they implement, which may emphasize different aspects of the task stimuli. As a consequence, younger children's well-documented search inefficiency may turn out to be advantageous and result in better memory for some aspects of the task. In the current experiment, 5- to 10-year-old children (N = 124) played (active condition) or observed an agent play (passive condition) 20-questions games, and were then tested for their memory of several different aspects of the game both immediately after and a week later. Children showed overall improved recall in the active condition. Search efficiency was positively related to recall of the game's solution, but did not significantly impact performance on the other memory tests. Public Significance Statement: Understanding the differential effects of information search strategies on memory across development has immediate implications for educators. First, encouraging the development of more efficient information search skills in young children may have positive consequences for other aspects of cognition such as memory. Furthermore, our results show that active participation in information search benefits retention, and, therefore, could be a particularly useful educational tool for young children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proactive interference (PI) occurs when previously learned memories compete with currently relevant information. Despite extensive literature investigating the effect in adults, little work has been done in young children. In three preregistered studies (N = 38, 35, 172; convenience samples from the Northeastern United States), first, we showed that 3-year-old toddlers are highly sensitive to the effect of PI in visual working memory and second, that these effects can originate from the reactivation of previously encoded information. Third, we tested how the ability to cope with PI changes between 2.5 and 7.5 years of age. Besides providing an estimate for the size of the interference effect at the youngest age to date, our findings have an important methodological implication: paradigms that repeat items across trials potentially underestimate young children's working memory abilities. Public Significance Statement: Performing tasks requires the constant updating of working memory (WM), which is especially challenging when previously relevant memories interfere with current ones ("Did I add a teaspoon of salt already, or was that the baking powder?"). In adults, this proactive interference (PI) has been well established as a fundamental limitation of memory performance. Characterizing PI in early childhood has three potential impacts. First, it can inform theoretical models of WM and its development. Second, it can lead to applied insights, such as a better understanding of children's learning in the classroom. Lastly, it has important methodological impacts. WM capacity is typically measured by presenting a series of trials with similar, or repeated, stimuli—a practice that promotes PI and may lower performance. Without updating paradigms to account for, or avoid, this interference, we may be systematically underestimating children's WM capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Memory decision‐making in 26‐ to 32‐month‐olds was investigated using visual‐paired comparison paradigms, requiring toddlers to select familiar stimuli (Active condition) or view familiar and novel stimuli (Passive condition). In Experiment 1 (N = 108, 54.6% female, 62% White; replication N = 98), toddlers with higher accuracy in the Active condition showed reduced novelty preference in that condition, but not in the Passive condition (d = −.11). In Experiment 2 (N = 78; 52.6% female; 70.5% White), a brief 5% increase in target size boosted gaze transitions across conditions (d =.50) and accuracy in the Active condition (d =.53). Overall, evidence suggests that better attentional distribution can support decision‐making. Research was conducted between 2014 and 2020 in Northern California. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impairments of auditory processing are among frequent findings in dyslexia. However, it is unclear how auditory signals are gated from brainstem to higher central processing stages in these individuals. The present study was done to investigate auditory sensory gating in children with developmental dyslexia (DD), and to determine whether sensory gating correlates with performance on behavioural tasks. Auditory sensory gating at P50, N1 and P2 waves was evaluated in two groups including 20 children with DD and 19 children with typical reading development (TRD). Behavioural tests were used to evaluate phonological working memory (PWM) and selective attention abilities. Sensory gating in children with DD was significantly less efficient than their peers at P50, N1 and P2 waves. Lower auditory evoked potential (AEP) amplitudes were found in the DD group. The children with TRD scored better in all the behavioural tests. Relationships were reported between sensory gating at P50, N1, P2 and behavioural performance in the two groups. Children with dyslexia had deficient sensory gating in comparison with controls. In addition, children with dyslexia experienced problems with PWM and selective attention tasks. The function of sensory gating was associated with attentional and PWM performances in this group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study recruited 428 Singaporean children at risk of math learning difficulties (MLD; Mage = 83.9 months, SDage = 4.35 months; 41% female). Using a factor mixture model that considered both quantitative and qualitative differences in math ability, two qualitatively different groups were identified: one with generalized difficulties across different math skills and the other with more focal difficulties in arithmetic fluency. Reading, working memory capacity, and numeracy (number line estimation skills and numerical discrimination) uniquely explained group membership. Children within each group differed in the extent of difficulties they exhibited, with numeracy variables differentially contributing to math ability in each group. Findings speak against a dimensional view of MLD and underscore the conceptual limitations of using basic numeracy performance to profile learning difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the reliability and validity of the Perceive, Recall, Plan and Perform System of Task Analysis (PRPP-Assessment) by parent-provided videos of children with mitochondrial disorders. Videos of 13 children performing 3–7 activities each were the subject of study, resulting in 65 activities. These were scored using the PRPP-Assessment by 11 raters. Internal consistency was calculated with Cronbach's alpha. Intra-rater reliability was evaluated by Bland-Altman Plots on 44 PRPP-Assessment scores. Inter-rater reliability was calculated with ICCAgreement on 128 PRPP-Assessment scores. Construct validity was assessed by comparing the PRPP-Assessment scores to the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure using Cohen's Kappa. PRPP-Assessments scores were evaluated with a multi-faceted Rasch Analysis. Internal consistency was high (0.92). Intra-rater reliability was sufficient to be good (92–96% within the 95%-Limits of the Agreement). The ICCAgreement for stage 1 Mastery Score showed acceptable inter-rater reliability (0.646). Stage 2 of the PRPP-Assessment showed low ICCs due to a lack of variability within the sample. Four out of six hypotheses on validity were accepted. Rasch's analysis demonstrated sound goodness-of-fit, and supported the validity of the PRPP-Assessment. The PRPP-Assessment by parent-provided videos in this heterogenic group showed sufficient to good psychometric properties. In practice, careful task selection and formulating criterion is recommended. PRPP-Assessment by parent-provided videos is reliable and valid in the complex, heterogenous group of children with mitochondrial disorders The PRPP-Assessment is suitable for children with mitochondrial disorders as it showed to contain familiar, functional and meaningful tasks and activities that fit with their level of functioning Professionals should be aware that parents might not be used to the criterium-based frame of reference of the PRPP-Assessment When applying the PRPP-Assessment, it is recommended to be careful in task selection and formulating the criterion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early childhood naps support emotional memory, but benefits are only observed after overnight sleep. Whether emotional memory consolidation occurs during naps, or whether napping only prepares memories for overnight consolidation is unknown. We investigated whether naps protect emotional memories from interference, indicating consolidation. Between 2018 and 2020, 63 children in western Massachusetts preschools (30 female, 33 male; 33–67 months; 23.8% Hispanic, 87.3% White) learned faces paired with negative or neutral descriptions, followed by nap or wake. Before delayed recognition, half completed an interference task. Without interference, napping benefited recognition. With interference, children recognized fewer negative faces post‐nap (compared to wake), with overnight sleep attenuating this difference. Results suggest that naps initially destabilize emotional memories, possibly reflecting partial processing that promotes long‐term consolidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forensic interviewers ask children broad input-free recall questions about individual episodes in order to elicit complete narratives, often asking about "the first time," "the last time," and "one time." An overlooked problem is that the word "time" is potentially ambiguous, referring both to a particular episode and to conventional temporal information. We examined 191 6-9-year-old maltreated children's responses to questions about recent events varying the wording of the invitations, either asking children to "tell me about" or "tell me what happened" one time/the first time/the last time the child experienced recent recurrent events. Additionally, half of the children were asked a series of "when" questions about recurrent events before the invitations. Children were several times more likely to provide exclusively conventional temporal information to "tell me about" invitations compared to "tell me what happened" invitations, and asking "when" questions before the invitations increased children's tendency to give exclusively conventional temporal information. Children who answered a higher proportion of "when" questions with conventional temporal information were also more likely to do so in response to the invitations. The results suggest that children may often fail to provide narrative information because they misinterpret invitations using the word "time." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Developmental language disorder (DLD) is an impairment that disturbs the ability to acquire and make use of native language. The exact cognitive and neuronal brain underpinnings of the disorder are still a matter of investigation. Material and methods: The relationship between the audiovisual phonemic short-term memory and particular language abilities was examined among 7-9 year-old children with DLD as well as in a gender, age, and IQ-matched control group. Children were assessed with a standard language battery and the Stanford-Binet scale (SB5). Subsequently, they performed a short-term memory task requiring immediate recall of sequences composed of syllables presented audiovisually. Results: There were lower levels of audiovisual phonemic memory among children with DLD. They performed significantly worse than matched typically developing (TD) children in the experimental task and their performance was correlated with scores obtained in each language subtest. In contrast, we did not find between-group differences in visual short-term operational memory measured on the SB5 scale. Conclusions: The present experiment replicated previous findings about short-term phonemic memory impairment in the DLD population. We found that memory impairment also occurs even if phoneme information is presented simultaneously in the auditory and visual domains. It appears that non-linguistic spatial cues accompanying phoneme stimuli do not overcome phonemic short-term memory impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes how the relation between childhood and nature contributes to the formation of identities though childhood memories written for archival purposes. Archival research lets us consider how written childhood memories of nature are formed, producing social identities through practices of archiving. The archived memories of 50 people in Sweden are analyzed, concentrating on how they described their childhood memories of nature. Understanding memories as performances of identity can give important answers as to how the idealized relationship between nature and childhood is constructed in the specific context of archivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The architecture of sleep undergoes distinct changes during childhood and early adolescence. Slow wave sleep is involved in memory processing and may support active consolidation of newly encoded representations to support the formation of abstracted "gist" memories. Here, we examined sleep and overnight memory formation in German school children (n = 33) between 7 and 15 years of age, after the encoding phase of a verbal Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) task. Effects of age were analyzed on sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) signatures of memory processing during nonrapid eye movement (NonREM) sleep, and the overnight formation of veridical and gist-based memories. Increasing age decreases time spent in slow wave sleep, and slow wave activity, whereas density and amplitude of fast sleep spindles in NonREM sleep were increased. Moreover, fast spindles were more consistently and more closely coupled to the upstate of the slow oscillation in the older children. Also, veridical and gist-based recall of words after sleep increased with age. Notably, a closer slow oscillation upstate-fast spindle coupling predicted veridical recall of words, and this relationship was found independent of age. Memory performance in the sleeping children did not differ from that of an age-matched control group (n = 32) tested over a daytime wake retention interval, with adolescents even showing superior veridical recall after wake. Our findings suggest that slow oscillation-spindle coupling as a mechanism of sleep-dependent memory formation becomes increasingly relevant during childhood and early adolescence. However, wake-associated mechanisms similarly effective in forming medium-term memory exist in this age as well. Public Significance Statement: The recall of veridical and gist-based memories increases with age in children between 7 to 15 years of age. Whereas sleep compared with wakefulness did not generally alter memory performance, consolidation of veridical memory was connected to a more precise coupling of spindles to slow oscillations, two cardinal nonrapid eye movement sleep oscillations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relation between perceptual and conceptual knowledge is a longstanding research question in developmental psychology. Here we tested children's dependence on figurative information with a reaction time/accuracy task. A sample of 151 children from 5 to 10 years were assessed from two multicultural and multiracial schools in the London (UK) boroughs City of London and Harrow. A quarter of children in both schools were eligible for free school meals (national average 18.5%). The same 3 × 3 grid with nine individually colored places and a uniform black star as placeholder was tested in three different retrieval conditions: (a) same array as during presentation, (b) one place at a time with placeholder, and (c) one place at a time without placeholder. In a (d) control condition, individual shapes were of the same color as the colorful places. Bayes Factor analyses showed a more unified response toward figurative placeholders in 5- to 6-year-olds. Independently of age, colorful places without a placeholder were hardest to remember. Places were better remembered when a placeholder was added and still better when the spatial context of the entire array was available. Yet unique shapes with distinctive contours and colors as placeholders optimized place memory the most. While place memory accuracy increased with age, reaction times did not become faster. Instead, latencies were longer, the more visual information was available in the retrieval array. A larger perceptual effect was caused by the dynamic where-delay interference task, the sparser the amount of visual information in the retrieval array. Public Significance Statement: This study reversed the usual set up of asking children to remember where objects were located. Instead, each color of a grid had an individual color. Results revealed that when 5- to 10-year-old children were tested for locations, they needed as much visual information of the grid as possible in order to accurately identify a place. The less visual information they were given, the more interference was possible. Still, an individual colorful shape's place was remembered best. With regards to response times, the more visual information they were given, the longer they needed to make a decision, independently of their age. The youngest children did not make a difference in their response times whether a colorful shape or a black star was a placeholder showing they opted for figures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) cause individuals to have difficulty in learning facts, procedures, or social skills. NDD has been linked to several genes, and several animal models have been used to identify potential therapeutic candidates based on specific learning paradigms for long-term and associative memory. In individuals with NDD, however, such testing has not been used so far, resulting in a gap in translating preclinical results to clinical practice. Objective: We aim to assess if individuals with NDD could be tested for paired association learning and long-term memory deficit, as shown in previous animal models. Methods: We developed an image-based paired association task, which can be performed at different time points using remote web-based testing, and evaluated its feasibility in children with typical development (TD), as well as NDD. We included 2 tasks: object recognition as a simpler task and paired association. Learning was tested immediately after training and also the next day for long-term memory. Results: We found that children aged 5-14 years with TD (n=128) and with NDD of different types (n=57) could complete testing using the Memory Game. Children with NDD showed deficits in both recognition and paired association tasks on the first day of learning, in both 5-9-year old (P<.001 and P=.01, respectively) and 10-14-year old groups (P=.001 and P<.001, respectively). The reaction times to stimuli showed no significant difference between individuals with TD or NDD. Children with NDD exhibited a faster 24-hour memory decay for the recognition task than those with TD in the 5-9-year old group. This trend is reversed for the paired association task. Interestingly, we found that children with NDD had their retention for recognition improved and matched with typically developing individuals by 10-14 years of age. The NDD group also showed improved retention deficits in the paired association task at 10-14 years of age compared to the TD group. Conclusions: We showed that web-based learning testing using simple picture association is feasible for children with TD, as well as with NDD. We showed how web-based testing allows us to train children to learn the association between pictures, as shown in immediate test results and those completed 1 day after. This is important as many models for learning deficits in NDD target both short- and long-term memory for therapeutic intervention. We also demonstrated that despite potential confounding factors, such as self-reported diagnosis bias, technical issues, and varied participation, the Memory Game shows significant differences between typically developing children and those with NDD. Future experiments will leverage this potential of web-based testing for larger cohorts and cross-validation with other clinical or preclinical cognitive tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children now participate in audio and video calls with their parents and relatives using smartphones. We assessed if video calls help children to have more expressive conversation. We talked with 60 children aged between four and eight years on audio and video calls using smartphones in a controlled environment. We observed how they participated in the conversation and if they could recall what they heard over a call and solve a problem involving physical artifacts while receiving help on a call. Video calls were found to engage children aged four to six years 32.84% and seven and eight years 47.75% longer than audio calls. The children used bodily gestures and interrupted the person with whom they were having conversation to make a point of their own more often on video calls. The difference in the number of children who could initiate audio and video calls was insignificant. We found that 67% of the children aged four to six years could recall a story they had heard on a video call, while only 27% of them could do so for audio calls. Additionally, 20% of the children aged seven and eight years could solve a problem involving physical artifacts when receiving instructions over video calls, while none of them could do so when receiving instructions on audio calls. Video calls can contribute in child development in several ways including instilling a sense of proximity and security among children. Specialized video chatting apps may be developed for children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children are on a quest for knowledge. To achieve it, children must integrate separate but related episodes of learning. The theoretical model of memory integration posits that the process is supported by component cognitive abilities. In turn, memory integration predicts accumulation of a knowledge base. We tested this model in two studies (data collected in 2016–2018) with second (8‐year‐olds; n = 391; 196 female; 36% Black, 27% Hispanic/Latinx, 29% White, and 8% multiracial) and third (9‐year‐olds; n = 282; 148 female; 36% Black, 31% Hispanic/Latinx, 27% White, and 5% multiracial) graders. The results support the theoretical model and the role of verbal comprehension in learning new information, and also indicate that verbal comprehension alone is not sufficient to build knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual working memory (WM) plays a pivotal role in integrating fragments into meaningful units, but no study has addressed how visual WM integration takes place in children. The current study examined whether WM integration emerges once preschoolers master Gestalt cue and can retain two representations in WM (automatic integration hypothesis), or still needs time to mature (maturation‐of‐integration hypothesis). Four experiments (N = 168, 81 females, 4‐ to 6‐year‐olds, Chinese, in Hangzhou, China, from 2016.10 to 2021.11) were conducted. Although 4‐year‐olds can retain two objects in WM and benefit from Gestalt cues in simultaneous display (Cohen's ds >1.00), they failed when memory arrays were presented sequentially. Meanwhile, 5‐ and 6‐year‐olds consistently demonstrated WM integration ability (all Cohen's ds >0.69), supporting the maturation‐of‐integration hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study investigated the contribution of multiple verbal and working memory (WM) skills to morphosyntactic prediction in Turkish-speaking 4- to 8-year-old children. In a visual world eye-tracking experiment, 76 children were presented with verb-final sentences with nominative and accusative case markers on the initial noun (e.g., the fast rabbit nominative ... the carrot accusative eat future vs. the fast rabbit accusative ... the fox nominative eat future ) while they were looking at a visual display with three objects (e.g., rabbit, carrot, and fox). Importantly, the case markers on the initial noun could be used to predict the second noun in these sentences. The results revealed that when children's early productive vocabulary and language production skills were higher, the better and faster they were in predicting the upcoming noun. The episodic buffer, a component of WM, was also positively associated with children's morphosyntactic prediction abilities. The implications of these results for the mechanisms of linguistic prediction are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims to examine the effects of two dual-task training methods (motormotor and cognitive-motor) as well as a single task method on static and dynamic balance and also on the working memory in children. Forty-five children (all male; mean age 8.82 ± 0.83 years) were selected and randomly assigned into three experimental groups. In the pretest, posttest, and retention stages, the participants took static, and dynamic balance tests, as well as an n-back task. In the training stage, the participants practiced selected balance training tasks under dual-task motor-motor and motor-cognitive conditions as well as a single task over a period of four weeks at two sessions per week. The results of the paired samples t-test indicated that children in all groups improved their balance performance and working memory (p ≤ .05). The results of ANCOVA showed that the balance training group under motor-motor dual-task conditions outperformed the other two groups in terms of the dynamic balance scores (p ≤ .05). An improved performance was also observed for the cognitive-motor dual-task conditions compared to the single-task group (p ≤ .01). In terms of static balance and working memory, both dual-task groups, regardless of the types of their tasks, outperformed the single task group (p ≤ .05). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article engages continuing discussions in childhood studies on (re)inserting the study of childhood into wider socio‐political matrices of power and practices. We present as a potent analytical strategy to do this work 'child as method', developed by one of the authors. After describing 'child as method', we draw on the Recollect/Reconnect project, in which scholars and artists who grew up during the last decades of the Cold War recalled their childhood memories. We focus on 'the child' and 'childhood' as a position of geopolitical address, formulated by narrators to the reader as revealing emergent post‐socialist subjectivities and conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have deficits in verbal and non‐verbal processing relative to typically developing (TD) peers, potentially reflecting difficulties in working memory, processing speed and inhibition of interference. We examined working memory in children with DLD using the serial‐order‐in‐a‐box–complex span (SOB‐CS) interference‐based model, which posits a time‐based mechanism, free time, that governs how interference affects processing performance. Aims: (1) To determine the degree to which children with DLD and TD children differ in the amount of free time available during working memory tasks, and whether potential group differences in free time differ depending on the domain of task demands? (2) To determine the relationship between free time and interference effects on working memory accuracy in children with DLD relative to TD peers. Methods & Procedures: We examined the relationship between free time and working memory in children aged 9–13 years with DLD relative to age‐matched TD peers. Working memory tasks involved five conditions that varied verbal versus non‐verbal task demands in an interference processing phase relative to a recall test phase. Free time was the time between response on the interference processing task and onset of the recall test phase. Outcomes & Results: DLD and TD groups did not differ in total free time in any condition. Results indicated group differences in the relationship between free time and accuracy in the conditions involving verbal recall, but not non‐verbal recall. In the verbal‐only condition, relatively more free time was associated with worse accuracy for the DLD group, but with better accuracy for the TD group. In the condition with verbal recall paired with non‐verbal interference processing, relatively more free time was associated with better accuracy for the DLD group, but not for the TD group. Conclusions & Implications: The overall findings suggest that free time between cognitive operations is positively associated with working memory for both verbal and non‐verbal recall, except in the presence of high verbal interference for the DLD group (i.e., verbal interference paired with verbal recall). This finding may reflect poor encoding and attention under particularly challenging verbal processing demands for the DLD group. This study also demonstrates the importance of considering the interrelationships between processing speed and interference in working memory performance. What this paper adds: What is already known on the subject: DLD is characterized by core deficits in verbal processing, but also deficits in non‐verbal processing. Processing‐based hypotheses of DLD—limited verbal working memory, slowed processing speed and inefficient inhibition—do not fully account for behavioural profiles in DLD when considered separately, yet there is evidence suggesting interrelationships among these factors. What this paper adds to existing knowledge: The current study tests the key mechanism posited by a theoretical framework that has the potential to integrate these processing‐based hypotheses. Our findings indicate that the effect of this mechanism differed in DLD relative to TD peers in the presence of high verbal task demands. Our findings also demonstrate the importance of considering the interrelationships among cognitive processes in children with DLD. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: In practice, results from the current study suggest that children with DLD may benefit from supplementing verbal information with non‐verbal information and from pauses between successive presentations of verbal information. These strategies may support their ability to maintain and act on information during verbal processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several models of working memory (WM) have been proposed in the literature. Most of the research on the architecture of WM is based on adults or older children, but less is known about younger children. In this study, we tested various models of WM on a sample of 739 Italian children, ranging in age from 3 to 8 years, primarily of European heritage and from medium to medium-high socioeconomic background, Participants were assessed with 12 WM tasks, systematically varying the modality and level of executive control required (based on the number of activities to be performed at once: retention alone. ignoring distractors, and dealing with dual tasks). We examined younger children (n = 501, Mage = 56.8 months, SD = 6.4,48% boys) and older children (n = 238, Mage = 80.0 months, SD = 9,0,58% boys) separately using multigroup confirmatory factor analyses. A Bayesian analytical approach was adopted. Our results suggested that a four-factor model distinguishing between verbal, visual, spatial-simultaneous, and spatial- sequential components of WM achieved the best fit. Overall, the WM structure was very similar in the two groups. We further explored this result with an additional model with a central executive factor loaded on high-control tasks only and found evidence for the presence of an executive control component. The contribution of this factor in terms of explained variance was only modest, however. Our findings demonstrate that it is important to distinguish between WM components in young children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Only half of the sample had received training in child interviewing. • Child Protective Services rarely used research-based child interview methods. • Props were commonly used when interviewing children. • Many participants held beliefs in favor of the possibility of repressing and recovering memories. • We encourage the Swedish government to implement national guidelines for child interviewing in the Child Protective Services. The Child Protective Services (CPS) can be prominent actors in child abuse investigations as they often conduct the first safety assessment upon receiving a report of concern for a child. As part of this assessment, CPS may conduct an interview with the child. However, to date, little is known about how these interviews are conducted. The present study aimed to shed light on Swedish social workers' experience with interviewing children and knowledge about children's memory and witness abilities. A total of 204 social workers participated in an online survey and answered questions concerning memory functioning and interviewing children about suspected abuse. Responses were analyzed using qualitative (content analyses) and quantitative (descriptive) approaches. The main findings concern a lack of standardized interviewing guidelines, with CPS workers instead using various interviewing techniques with limited empirical support. When asked to elaborate on the challenges they perceived interviewing children, many mentioned the difficulty of asking proper questions. A few expressed feeling unequipped for the task of interviewing children. Further, participants' knowledge regarding children's memory varied. Many expressed awareness that memories can be vulnerable to suggestion and that emotions cannot verify a memory's authenticity. However, participants were more insecure regarding the possibility of repressing and, subsequently, recovering memories. Improvement is required; CPS needs further education and support when conducting interviews with children regarding suspected abuse. Implementing a research-based method can facilitate these interviews and improve children's right to be heard and legal certainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We integrate memory development research by focusing on shared methodology. • We highlight the value of a mapping review approach. • Gaps in the memory development literature can be prioritized for the future. • Different theories generate data that can be integrated. • Mapping reviews offer a solution to building a cumulative science in psychology. Cumulative science hinges on consolidating empirical evidence. However, both narrative reviews and meta -analyses often restrict integration by using construct labels in searches, which vary greatly across traditions and eras in psychology. A complementary approach is the mapping review, more common in other disciplines, which focuses on operational definitions and experimental design. Here, we pioneered using this approach in experimental psychology, applying it to memory development. We classified 506 publications in the last 5 decades using 16 design features and identified methodologically convergent work that originated from different theoretical frameworks. New insights emerge from this approach. First, characterizing the relative data density along each dimension of experimental design identifies where future research is most necessary. Second, we linked relevant evidence previously separated by nonoverlapping construct labels. Third, we illustrated the potential application of this technique as a precursor to subsequent research syntheses with an analysis of the development of pattern separation (also called mnemonic discrimination). To facilitate the process of literature integration and identification of methodological overlap, we have created a freely available interactive web application using the current database. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Math attitudes are related to achievement, yet we do not know how the brain supports changes in math attitudes. 51 children (54.9% female, 45.1% male; 37.3% White, 33.3% Black, 11.8% Latino, 5.9% Asian, 11.8% Other) solved a multiplication task inside the scanner when they were approximately 11 (time 1; T1) and 13 (time 2; T2) years old (i.e., mean age). Results revealed clusters in the left middle to superior temporal gyri at T1 associated with math attitudes at T1 and with their longitudinal improvement. However, changes in attitudes were not associated with brain changes over time. These findings suggest that relying on the storage of arithmetic facts, involved in memory retrieval, explains the development of positive math attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cognitive functioning of children who experience intimate partner violence (IPV) has received less attention than their emotional‐behavioral outcomes. Drawing upon data from 615 (48.4% female) 10‐year‐old Australian‐born children and their mothers (9.6% of mothers born in non‐English speaking countries) participating in a community‐based longitudinal study between 2004 and 2016, this study examined the associations between IPV in infancy and cognition in middle childhood (at age 10). Results showed that IPV in the first 12 months of life was associated with lower general cognitive ability and poorer executive attention but not working memory skills. IPV in middle childhood (in the 10th year postpartum) was not associated with cognition. This study provides evidence for the long‐term impact of early life exposure to IPV on children's cognition, and points to the importance of early intervention to optimize development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Verbally reported long‐term memory for past events typically improves with age. However, such findings are based exclusively on studies, where children are directly asked to recall. The present study showed that when 3‐ (n = 113, 59 girls) and 4‐year‐olds (n = 113, 62 girls), predominantly White, were brought back to a distinct laboratory‐setting after either 1‐, 4.5‐, or 13‐weeks, children—regardless of age and delay—spontaneously recalled the distinct event experienced at their first visit (all Cohen's ds > 1.00). Meanwhile, the oldest children outperformed the youngest when being asked directly to retrieve the event (ηp2>.088). These findings suggest that spontaneous retrieval facilitated by distinct environmental cues provides a short‐cut to young children's event memories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Working memory is an often studied and important psychological construct. The growth of working memory capacity (WMC) in childhood is described as linear. Average adult WMC is estimated as either four or five "chunks." Using latent curve models of data from a measure of digit span backward that was administered longitudinally to a large sample representative of the native-English-speaking U.S. kindergarten population in 2011, we found that WMC growth in childhood is curvilinear. It shows an increasing yet decelerating pattern. Scoring rules (e.g., requiring 50% or 75% of trials correct) influence age-based estimates, but WMCs have likely been underestimated in children, and the average adult WMC of five is more plausible than four, as measured by digit span backward. Developmental WMC estimates, such as those reported in this research, may help others develop prescriptive learning interventions for children and understand its growth and decline across the life span. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preschoolers are well known for their poor working memory (WM) performance. This could result from goal neglect, which would hamper the setting of maintenance strategies. Previous studies have shown that preschoolers' WM performance can be improved in game-like tasks, because they provide cues to support goal maintenance. However, in these studies, it was unclear what features of the task (either the main toy or the motor activity required by the game) provide efficient cues. The aim of the present study was to disentangle the two features to examine cue effects in 5-to 7-year-old children. No improvement of WM performance was observed when the toy was a potential goal cue, whereas the motor activity had a detrimental effect in all age groups. The latter effect could result from a distraction of attention from attention-based maintenance activities. Hence, preschoolers' poorWM performance would not be fundamentally due to goal neglect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally there is high morbidity due to mental illnesses, necessitating research on positive mental health and new models of mental health promotion. This study investigates the mediating role of spirituality to known pathways between childhood social exposures and adult mental health outcomes—hope, meaning in life and depression among young Kenyan men. Using the "religion as attachment" framework, we investigate whether childhood attachment conditions predict lower scores of daily spiritual experiences, and whether this pathway mediates associations between childhood attachment conditions and current depression, meaning in life, and hope. Spirituality significantly mediated associations between childhood attachments and adult mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, 4th ed. includes two measures of working memory normed on children 2;6–7;7. The present analyses of the typically developing children (N = 1,591, 812 female, 779 male, with an ethnic distribution approximating the United States) provide new, theoretically important information about these working memory tasks, Picture Memory and Zoo Locations. These new analyses establish developmental trends, individual‐difference properties, and cognitive task properties. They show comparable developmental trends for the two tasks, but Picture Memory picks up more individual‐difference variation and is more sensitive to knowledge. This analysis of normed tasks starting very young makes possible new methods for research on the early stages of childhood working memory development, about which little is currently known. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atypical learning and memory in early life can promote atypical behaviors in later life. Less relational learning and inflexible retrieval in childhood may enhance restricted and repeated behaviors in patients with autism spectrum disorder. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the mechanisms of atypical memory in children with autism spectrum disorder. We conducted picture–name pair learning and delayed-recognition tests with two groups: one group with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder children (aged 7–16, n = 41) and one group with typically developing children (n = 82) that matched the first group's age, sex, and IQ. We assessed correlations between successful recognition scores and seed-to-whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity. Although both learning and retrieval performances were comparable between the two groups, we observed slightly lower category learning and significantly fewer memory gains in the autism spectrum disorder group than in the typically developing group. The right canonical anterior hippocampal network was involved in successful memory in youths with typically developing, while other memory systems may be involved in successful memory in youths with autism spectrum disorder. Context-independent and less relational memory processing may be associated with fewer memory gains in autism spectrum disorder. These atypical memory characteristics in autism spectrum disorder may accentuate their inflexible behaviors in some situations. Atypical learning and memory in early life can promote atypical behaviors in later life. Specifically, less relational learning and inflexible retrieval in childhood may enhance restricted and repeated behaviors in patients with autism spectrum disorder. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the mechanisms of atypical memory in children with autism spectrum disorder. We conducted picture–name pair learning and delayed-recognition tests with two groups of youths: one group with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder children (aged 7–16, n = 41) and one group with typically developing children (n = 82) that matched the first group's age, sex, and full-scale IQ. We examined correlations between successful recognition scores and neural connectivity during resting in the magnetic resonance imaging scanner without thinking about anything. Although both learning and retrieval performances were comparable between the two groups, we observed significantly fewer memory gains in the autism spectrum disorder group than in the typically developing group. The memory network was involved in successful memory retrieval in youths with typically developing, while the other memory systems that do not depend to a great degree on networks may be involved in successful memory in youths with autism spectrum disorder. Context-independent and less relational memory processing may be associated with fewer memory gains in autism spectrum disorder. In other words, autism spectrum disorder youths might benefit from non-relational memory. These atypical memory characteristics in autism spectrum disorder may exaggerate their inflexible behaviors in some situations, or—vice versa—their atypical behaviors may result in rigid and less connected memories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) is associated with smaller regional and global brain volumes. In rats, gestational choline supplementation mitigates adverse developmental effects of ethanol exposure. Our recent randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled maternal choline supplementation trial showed improved somatic and functional outcomes in infants at 6.5 and 12 months postpartum. Here, we examined whether maternal choline supplementation protected the newborn brain from PAE‐related volume reductions and, if so, whether these volume changes were associated with improved infant recognition memory. Methods: Fifty‐two infants born to heavy‐drinking women who had participated in a choline supplementation trial during pregnancy underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging with a multi‐echo FLASH protocol on a 3T Siemens Allegra MRI (median age = 2.8 weeks postpartum). Subcortical regions were manually segmented. Recognition memory was assessed at 12 months on the Fagan Test of Infant Intelligence (FTII). We examined the effects of choline on regional brain volumes, whether choline‐related volume increases were associated with higher FTII scores, and the degree to which the regional volume increases mediated the effects of choline on the FTII. Results: Usable MRI data were acquired in 50 infants (choline: n = 27; placebo: n = 23). Normalized volumes were larger in six of 12 regions in the choline than placebo arm (t ≥ 2.05, p ≤ 0.05) and were correlated with the degree of maternal choline adherence (β ≥ 0.28, p ≤ 0.04). Larger right putamen and corpus callosum were related to higher FTII scores (r = 0.36, p = 0.02) with a trend toward partial mediation of the choline effect on recognition memory. Conclusions: High‐dose choline supplementation during pregnancy mitigated PAE‐related regional volume reductions, with larger volumes associated with improved 12‐month recognition memory. These results provide the first evidence that choline may be neuroprotective against PAE‐related brain structural deficits in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Recent behavioral studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of implementing retrieval practice into learning tasks for children. Such approaches have revealed that repeated spaced retrieval (RSR) is particularly effective in promoting children's learning of word form and meaning information. This study further examines how retrieval practice enhances learning of word meaning information at the behavioral and neural levels. Method: Twenty typically developing preschool children were taught novel words using an RSR learning schedule for some words and an immediate retrieval (IR) learning schedule for other words. In addition to the label, children were taught two arbitrary semantic features for each item. Following the teaching phase, children's learning was tested using recall tests. In addition, during the 1-week follow-up, children were presented with pictures and an auditory sentence that correctly labeled the item but stated correct or incorrect semantic information. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were time locked to the onset of the words noting the semantic feature. Children provided verbal judgments of whether the semantic feature was correctly paired with the item. Results: Children recalled more labels and semantic features for items that had been taught in the RSR learning schedule relative to the IR learning schedule. ERPs also differentiated the learning schedules. Mismatching label--meaning pairings elicited an N400 and late positive component (LPC) for both learning conditions; however, mismatching RSR pairs elicited an N400 with an earlier onset and an LPC with a longer duration, relative to IR mismatching label--meaning pairings. These ERP timing differences indicated that the children were more efficient in processing words that were taught in the RSR schedule relative to the IR learning schedule. Conclusions: Spaced retrieval practice promotes learning of both word form and meaning information. The findings lay the necessary groundwork for better understanding of processing newly learned semantic information in preschool children. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.15063060 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to examine how visual skills, verbal working memory, visuospatial working memory, and other general cognitive skills (inhibitory control, attention, and decision speed) were simultaneously correlated with the early acquisition of reading among kindergarten children. A total of 99 Chinese children were tested individually on the Chinese character recognition task, the block design task, the digit span task, the visuospatial sketchpad task, the continuous performance task (CPT), the flanker task, and the choice reaction time task. The results showed that visual skills and working memory accounted for 15% of the unique variance in character reading, whereas other general cognitive skills, including decision speed, inhibitory control and attention, did not significantly explain the variance in character reading when visual skills and working memory were considered. Specifically, verbal working memory, rather than visuospatial working memory, explained the unique variance in children's learning of character reading. These findings highlighted that visual skills and verbal working memory were among the most important precursors of reading in children at the beginning stage of learning Chinese characters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extraction of environmental patterns underlies human learning throughout the lifespan and plays a crucial role not only in cognitive but also perceptual, motor, and social skills. At least two types of regularities contribute to acquiring skills: (1) statistical, probability-based regularities, and (2) serial order-based regularities. Memory performance of probability-based and/or serial order-based regularities over short periods (from minutes to weeks) has been widely investigated across the lifespan. However, long-term (months or year-long) memory performance of such knowledge has received relatively less attention and has not been assessed in children yet. Here, we aimed to test the long-term memory performance of probability-based and serial order-based regularities over a 1-year offline period in neurotypical children between the age of 9 and 15. Participants performed a visuomotor four-choice reaction time task designed to measure the acquisition of probability-based and serial order-based regularities simultaneously. Short-term consolidation effects were controlled by retesting their performance after a 5-h delay. They were then retested on the same task 1 year later without any practice between the sessions. Participants successfully acquired both probability-based and serial order-based regularities and retained both types of knowledge over the 1-year period. The successful retention was independent of age. Our study demonstrates that the representation of probability-based and serial order-based regularities remains stable over a long period of time. These findings offer indirect evidence for the developmental invariance model of skill consolidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Verbal working memory (VWM) deficits are common in individuals with developmental language disorder (DLD) but are not well understood. This study evaluated how both memory and language production factors influence VWM performance in children and adults with DLD, focusing on the influence of serial position, phonological activation (PA), and lexical frequency. Participants were 30 children with DLD and 26 with typical language, and 21 adults with DLD and 23 with typical language. The participants completed a listening span task in which they were asked to recall the final words of sentences in sets of increasing size. Responses (dependent variable) were coded as correct, incorrect, or no response. Final words were coded for frequency, serial position within the set, and PA (number of occurrences of the initial phoneme, vowel, and whole word in the task). These variables, along with age and language status, were entered as predictors in mixed-effects multinomial regression models. Extreme serial position, greater PA, and higher frequency reduced incorrect and no responses. These effects were attenuated for the DLD group, and the effect of greater PA varied with set size. The findings suggest that for individuals with DLD, VWM performance is affected by more limited effective language experience and by the dynamic task demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The nature of the relationship between memory and sentence comprehension in school-age children with developmental language disorder (DLD) has been unclear. We present a novel perspective that highlights the relational influences of fluid intelligence, controlled attention, working memory (WM), and long-term memory (LTM) on sentence comprehension in children with and without DLD. This perspective has new and important implications for theory, assessment, and intervention. Method: We review a large-scale study of children with and without DLD that focused on the connections between cognition, memory, and sentence comprehension. We also summarize a new model of these relationships. Results: Our new model suggests that WM serves as a conduit through which syntactic knowledge in LTM, controlled attention, and general pattern recognition indirectly influence sentence comprehension in both children with DLD and typically developing children. For typically developing children, language-based LTM and fluid intelligence indirectly influence sentence comprehension. However, for children with DLD, controlled attention plays a larger indirect role. Conclusions: WM plays a key role in children's ability to apply their syntactic knowledge when comprehending canonical and noncanonical sentences. Our new model has important implications for the assessment of sentence comprehension and for the treatment of larger sentence comprehension deficits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A discrepancy between what was predicted and what is observed has been linked to increased looking times, changes in brain electrical activity, and increased pupil dilation in infants. These processes associated with heightened attention and readiness to learn might enhance the encoding and memory consolidation of the surprising object, as suggested by both the infant and the adult literature. We therefore investigated whether the presence of surprise during the encoding context enhances subsequent encoding and recognition memory processes for the items that violated infants' expectations. Seventeen‐month‐olds viewed 20 familiar objects, half of which were labeled correctly, while the other half were mislabeled. Subsequently, infants were presented with a silent recognition memory test where the previously labeled objects appeared along with new images. Pupil dilation was measured, with more dilated pupils indicating (1) surprise during those labeling events where the item was mislabeled and (2) successful retrieval processes during the memory test. Infants responded with more pupil dilation to mislabeling compared to correct labeling. Importantly, despite the presence of a surprise response during mislabeling, infants only differentiated between the previously seen and unseen items at the memory test, offering no evidence that surprise had facilitated the encoding of the mislabeled items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal was to examine the scope and development of early visual memory durability. We investigated individual‐ and age‐related differences across three unique tasks in 6‐ to 12‐month‐olds (Mage = 8.87, N = 49) by examining the effect of increased delay on memory performance. Results suggest longer‐term memory processes are quantifiable by 8 months using a modified Change Detection paradigm and spatial‐attention cueing processes are quantifiable by 10 months using a modified Delayed Response paradigm, utilizing 500–1,250 ms delays. Performance improved from 6 to 12 months and longer delays impaired performance. We found no evidence for success on the Delayed Match Retrieval task at any age. These outcomes help inform our understanding of infant visual memory durability and its emergence throughout early development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We perceive the world with our five senses. However, the role that these five senses play in early childhood memories has received relatively little attention. Against this background, participants (N = 117) were asked to write down their earliest childhood memories for the five senses and to answer additional questions regarding these memories. There was no significant difference between the five senses regarding the percentage of participants reporting a memory or between the valence and the subjective reliability of the reported memories. However, memories reported for sight were marginally longer, from a younger age, and estimated to be more important compared to memories reported for the other senses. A qualitative content analysis revealed that the vast majority of the reported memories fell into a limited number of categories. Interestingly, several categories played a role in more than one sense. Nevertheless, the reported memories also mirrored the characteristic properties that one is able to perceive with each sense. Overall, the findings support the notion that sight is the dominant sense. At the same time, they remind us that each sense provides us with unique information about ourselves and the world around us. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two studies examined the role of input distribution in English construction learning, by child learners from a Mandarin first‐language background, and the extent to which phonological short‐term memory and awareness predicted such learning. In the first study, 4th‐grade students of Mandarin Chinese (N = 121) learned the English object‐cleft construction under skewed or balanced input conditions. In the skewed condition, the construction was instantiated by exemplars with a high token‐frequency verb; in the balanced condition, the exemplars were evenly distributed. The second study (N = 117) replicated the first study, except that the argument nouns of the verbs in the exemplars also varied. The 2 studies yielded similar results in that children's comprehension of new sentences of the construction and use of the construction to infer new words were not affected by input distribution but were associated with phonological awareness and short‐term memory. The results suggest that while child learners of a foreign language could abstract a new pattern from input without direct instruction, their performance was more consistently associated with individual learner factors than with input‐related factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Source memory improves substantially during childhood. This improvement is thought to be closely related to hippocampal maturation. As previous studies have mainly used cross-sectional designs to assess relations between source memory and hippocampal function, it remains unknown whether changes in the brain precede improvements in memory or vice versa. To address this gap, the current study used an accelerated longitudinal design (n = 200, 100 males) to follow 4- and 6-year-old human children for 3 years. We traced developmental changes in source memory and intrinsic hippocampal functional connectivity and assessed differences between the 4- and 6-year-old cohorts in the predictive relations between source memory changes and intrinsic hippocampal functional connectivity in the absence of a demanding task. Consistent with previous studies, there were age-related increases in source memory and intrinsic functional connectivity between the hippocampus and cortical regions known to be involved during memory encoding. Novel findings showed that changes in memory ability early in life predicted later connectivity between the hippocampus and cortical regions and that intrinsic hippocampal functional connectivity predicted later changes in source memory. These findings suggest that behavioral experience and brain development are interactive, bidirectional processes, such that experience shapes future changes in the brain and the brain shapes future changes in behavior. Results also suggest that both timing and location matter, as the observed effects depended on both children's age and the specific brain ROIs. Together, these findings add critical insight into the interactive relations between cognitive processes and their underlying neurologic bases during development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research regarding the effects of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on executive function has grown exponentially in recent years. However, there has been no comprehensive review of the current state of literature. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review is to summarize previous research regarding the acute and chronic effects of HIIT on executive function across the lifespan and highlight future research directions. The results indicated that acute bouts of HIIT has a positive effect on inhibition in children/adolescents and adults, and further that chronic HIIT benefits inhibition and working memory in children. More research employing chronic interventions, focusing on middle-aged and older adults, and examining the effects on the working memory and cognitive flexibility domains of executive function are needed. Future research should also focus on a) the use of stronger research designs, b) the effects of HIIT dosage/modality, c) consideration of individual differences, d) possible underlying mechanisms, and e) examining the feasibility of translating HIIT to real-word settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined age‐related differences in the effectiveness of two generative learning strategies (GLSs). Twenty‐five children aged 9–11 and 25 university students aged 17–29 performed a facts learning task in which they had to generate either a prediction or an example before seeing the correct result. We found a significant Age × Learning Strategy interaction, with children remembering more facts after generating predictions rather than examples, whereas both strategies were similarly effective in adults. Pupillary data indicated that predictions stimulated surprise, whereas the effectiveness of example‐based learning correlated with children's analogical reasoning abilities. These findings suggest that there are different cognitive prerequisites for different GLSs, which results in varying degrees of strategy effectiveness by age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Previous research into the working, declarative, and procedural memory systems in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) has yielded inconsistent results. The purpose of this research was to profile these memory systems in children with DLD and their typically developing peers. Method: One hundred four 5- to 8-year-old children participated in the study. Fifty had DLD, and 54 were typically developing. Aspects of the working memory system (verbal short-term memory, verbal working memory, and visual--spatial short-term memory) were assessed using a nonword repetition test and subtests from the Working Memory Test Battery for Children. Verbal and visual--spatial declarative memory were measured using the Children's Memory Scale, and an audiovisual serial reaction time task was used to evaluate procedural memory. Results: The children with DLD demonstrated significant impairments in verbal short-term and working memory, visual--spatial short-term memory, verbal declarative memory, and procedural memory. However, verbal declarative memory and procedural memory were no longer impaired after controlling for working memory and nonverbal IQ. Declarative memory for visual--spatial information was unimpaired. Conclusions: These findings indicate that children with DLD have deficits in the working memory system. While verbal declarative memory and procedural memory also appear to be impaired, these deficits could largely be accounted for by working memory skills. The results have implications for our understanding of the cognitive processes underlying language impairment in the DLD population; however, further investigation of the relationships between the memory systems is required using tasks that measure learning over long-term intervals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meta-analytic evidence supports that exercise has benefits for short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM). However, only three studies with children have tested the differential effects of exercise on STM and LTM. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an aerobic fitness test on STM and LTM and to consider the moderating effects of grade level. Children (7–13 years of age) were randomly assigned to either perform an aerobic fitness test before (exercise prior) or after (exercise post) performing the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) to assess memory. Memory was tested again after approximately 24 hours. There were significant differences in memory performance as a function of grade with 4th and 6th graders consistently outperforming 2nd graders. For learning, Day 1 Retention, 24-hr recall, and Day 2 Retention, the exercise prior group performed better than the exercise post group. It is concluded that an aerobic fitness test performed prior to a declarative memory test benefits LTM as compared to when the aerobic fitness test is performed after the memory test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of verbal working memory (VWM) in early language and literacy development among typical and atypical monolingual children exposed to different orthographies is well established. Less is known how English Language Learners (ELLs) allocate their VWM resources in early stages of literacy acquisition in English (L2). This study examined the role of phonological (PM) and working memory (WM) in L2 decoding, sight word recognition and spelling among ELLs attending kindergarten in an urban Title I school. The results of ELLs' assessments across cognitive and linguistic reading pre-requisites were compared to the assessments on the same measures of typical and specific language impaired (SLI) monolingual peers. Despite decreased vocabulary and lower phonological awareness (PA) skills ELLs did not differ from typical monolingual peers on VWM skills and early literacy outcomes, but outperformed SLIs. However, ELLs relied exclusively on PM for decoding and spelling, which differed from typical monolingual peers. These results provide important information regarding L2 language and early literacy development among Spanish-speaking ELLs, and should help to conceptualize the educational strategies for supporting ELLs based on their L1 structure. Measure of PM may be discriminating criteria between ELLs and SLIs, as poor PM is an established marker for SLI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]